When Aiman quit smoking, he said he could smell things better and the food was tastier. Also he pants less. Earlier Aiman couldn’t even swim as he would find it difficult to hold his breath under water. He was an athlete before he got addicted to the deadly habit. After his addiction he couldn’t perform well either. A day came when his coach gave him a choice – leave smoking or leave sports.
He says the decision to leave smoking was easy made than done. The addiction was taking a toll on him but he channeled his energy into sports practices and now after 6 months of quitting, he’s back at the number one position.
Also, he says when he quit smoking 20 cigarettes a day; he saved around Rs. 8000 in 6 months. His teeth have become healthier as the tobacco staining has stopped. His skin is more radiant now and there are no more pimples that he used to get prior to quitting smoke. That’s because the skin of a non-smoker gets more nutrients, including oxygen, and can reverse the sallow, lined complexion that smokers often have.
A lot of people have experienced life altering results by kicking their bad habits. Every smoker knows smoking is bad for them yet they continue. Because they think ‘this can’t happen to me’. It’s all in the mind… If so, can you explain the picture of the lungs here? The picture shows two lungs – one of a healthy human’s, the other of a smoker’s.
After Aiman kicked the smoking habit his senses of smell and taste got a boost as his body recovered from being dulled by the hundreds of toxic chemicals in cigarettes.
Smoking has other side effects as well. Smoking during pregnancy affects an unborn child. Developmental growth and birth weight in babies of smoking mothers is lower than babies of non-smoking mothers. These same “smoking” babies are more likely to be shorter in height, slower at reading and lower in “social adjustment” than children of nonsmoking mothers. Ones bad habits are not justifiable if they affect another human’s life. Especially that of a new born child that has as much right to live freely in the world as every one else. Smoking during pregnancy takes the right of a normal life from the still unborn child. A heavy price the child pays for a smoking mother’s habit.
Quitting smoking improves the body’s blood flow, so improves sensitivity. This enhances their sex lives. It’s also been found that non-smokers are three times more appealing to the opposite sex than smokers (one of the advantages, perhaps, of smelling fresh). Most people look hot to others until they put that cigarette in their mouths.
Non-smokers find it easier to get pregnant. Quitting smoking improves the lining of the womb and can make men’s sperm more potent. Becoming a non-smoker increases the possibility of conceiving through IVF and reduces the likelihood of having a miscarriage. Most important of all, it improves the chances of giving birth to a healthy baby.
Stopping smoking has been found to slow facial ageing and delay the appearance of wrinkles. Quitting smoking means fresher breath. Ex-smokers are also much less likely than smokers to suffer from gum disease and lose their teeth prematurely.
People breathe more easily and cough less when they give up smoking because their lung capacity improves by up to 10% within nine months. In 20s and 30s, the effect of smoking on your lung capacity may not be noticeable until you go for a run, but lung capacity naturally diminishes with age. In later years, having access to maximum lung capacity can make all the difference between having an active, healthy old age and wheezing when going for a walk or climbing the stairs.
It’s common knowledge that half of all long-term smokers die early (half of them by middle age) from smoking-related diseases including heart disease, lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. In other words, it’s never too late to benefit from stopping. Quitting not only adds years to your life, it greatly improves the chance of a disease-free, mobile, happier old age.
Scientific studies show that people’s stress levels are lower after they stop smoking. Nicotine addiction makes smokers stressed from the ‘withdrawal’ between cigarettes; the pleasant feeling of satisfying that craving is only temporary and is not a real cure for stress. In addition, the improved levels of oxygen going through the body means ex-smokers can concentrate better and have increased mental well being.
Within two to 12 weeks of stopping smoking, the circulation improves, making all physical activities, including walking and running, much easier. The boost to the immune system from quitting will make it easier to fight off colds and flu. And the increase in oxygen in the body makes ex-smokers less fatigued and less likely to suffer from headaches.
You will also do the society a favor and those around you. Every 4th person that dies from lung disease is a passive smoker. A person killed because of some one else’s terrible filthy habit.
Smokers do yourselves and the world a favor – quit smoking, or you might just have to quit living.