I gave up smoking cold turkey 11 years ago today and I am pleased I did, for myself, for my husband and for my children. From the 31st May 2002 until today, I have never ever even had a puff of a cigarette… I went from 20 a day, to none and it was tough, and the only thing I had help from was a little chewing gum! But I never looked back and never really thought about going back. Breaking the habit on World No Tobacco Day worked for me…and if it worked for me, I wonder how many others in the world it worked for…. and what tools and technology might be available to help you quit today. When did you give up smoking? If you haven’t why haven’t you?
Today, the 31st May, is World no Tobacco Day designed to reignite our fight with smoking addictions. The World Health Organisation (WHO) tounded the day in 1987 to highlight the health risks and damage associated with tobacco and smoking. They fight every year to promote a 24 hour abstinence around the world and give people reasons to quit. Smoking is all about addiction and habit and it is time to truly break the cycle. If you can break it for one day, you can break it for a lifetime.
The world has seen smoking and tobacco be praised for its miracle affects for stress and weight loss, to being deemed the trademark of ‘cool and sexy’, to a cancer breeder and now to an epidemic. It is a fact that tobacco kills up to half of those who use it – not very good odds! Yet, buying tobacco is about as common as buying bread or milk for those who suffer from the addiction. It may shock you that nearly 6 million people are killed by tobacco each year with another 600,000 dying from exposure to second hand smoke. The sad fact is that the bombardment of advertising, promotion and sponsorship create this vortex of addiction so hard to get out of.
The WHO estimates that by 2030, if we carelessly let this epidemic continue, the figures will surmount to 8 million people a year. Quitting is no easy task , I can attest to the difficulty that many face with addiction. For years I tried to give up, without any real desire to, you see, I liked smoking and for a long time I simply didnt really want to quit. But quit I finally did… and yes it is demanding and challenging, but the evidence, and my own health and wellbeing reveals that it is well worth it. Today, we have the luxury of having numerous avenues for quitting. These range from the standard counselling, prescription medicines and nicotine boosters and now, we are lucky to have the support of our most recent friend, technology.
These are just some of the revolutionary technology tools that have surfaced that could help in breaking the habit:
It is a scary fact, that people of all ages are able to extend their lifetimes just by quitting smoking. Compared to those who continued to smoke, from ages 40 to 60 on average those who quit extended their lives by 6 years.