Gary S Sy, MD
SMOKING is a leading preventable cause of death all over the world. If you are a regular smoker, you are probably losing about 5 ½ minutes of life expectancy for each cigarette you smoke. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of lung cancer. Yet, despite the vast medical evidence supporting such statistics, most heavy smokers continue to smoke.
How smoking damages your health?
Tobacco smoke contains three principal dangerous chemicals: Tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide.
* Tar is a mixture of several substances that condense into a sticky substance in the lungs.
* Nicotine is an addictive drug that is absorbed from the lung and acts mainly on the nervous and cardiovascular systems.
* Carbon monoxide decreases the amount of oxygen that red blood cells can carry throughout the body. Consider the average smoker, a person who smokes 15 to 20 cigarettes per day. Compared with non-smoker he or she is about 14 times more likely to die from cancer of the lungs, throat or mouth, 4 times more likely to die from cancer of the esophagus, and twice as likely to die from heart attack. Cigarettes are a principal cause of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and having a chronic lung disease increases the risk of high blood pressure, angina pectoris (chest pain) and memory loss.
How to quit smoking?
Almost all health risks associable with smoking begin to decrease as soon as you quit, no matter how long you have smoked. Most smokers who have the determination can stop by themselves.
The following step-by-step procedures has proved effective for thousands of people who have been able to quit smoking.
Step 1 — Analyze your smoking habits — prepare a chart showing every cigarette you smoke in a 24-hour period. Give yourself 2 weeks to determine when and why you smoke cigarette.
Step 2 — Make up your mind that there can be no turning back — list all the reasons why you want to quit, including all the benefits (save money, food will taste better, get rid of smoker’s cough).
Step 3 — Choose the day and quit on that date — challenge a family member or close friends to act together, quitting on the same date and supporting one another through the difficult early days.
Step 4 — Use a method that you can use as a cigarette substitute during the difficult early days — chew sugarless gum or suck on sugarless hard candies. Avoid situations that encourage smoking.
Step 5 — Enjoy not smoking! — Give yourself positive reward by saving up the unspent money to buy something.
Step 6 — During the first few weeks, eat as much as you want of low calorie food (raw vegetables and fruits) and drink plenty of water — start an exercise regimen.
It is important to recognize that quitting is very difficult. If you resume smoking, don’t be discouraged: Try again. You will succeed.
(Dr. Gary S. Sy, M.D. is the Medical Director of Life Extension Medical Center located at The Garden Plaza Hotel (formerly Swiss Inn Hotel) 1370 General Luna St., Paco, Manila. He is a Diplomate in Gerontology and Geriatrics, advocate Diet-Nutritional Therapy, and conducts free seminar every Friday about age-related health problems. For more details please call telephone numbers: 400-42-05 or 522-48-35 local 315.
E-mail Address: lifeextension_drgarysy@yahoo.com
Please tune in at DZRH 666 khz "Operation Tulong" every Wednesday and Friday at 10 p.m.-11 p.m. and DZMM 630 kHz "Gabay sa Kalusugan" awarded as "2005 CMMA as Best Educational Radio Program," every Sunday at 11 a.m.-12 nn.)
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