Below are some helpful tips for quitting smoking:

 

• Set a quit date.
• Change your environment.
• Review your past attempts to quit. Think about what worked and what did not. • Once you quit, don't smoke—NOT EVEN A PUFF!

 

• Tell your family, friends, and co-workers that you are going to quit and want their support. Ask them not to smoke around you or leave cigarettes out where you can see them.
• Talk to your health care provider (e.g., doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, psychologist, or smoking cessation coach or counselor).
• Get individual, group, or telephone counseling. Counseling doubles your chances of success.
• The more help you have, the better your chances are of quitting. Free programs are available at local hospitals and health centers. Call your local health department for information about programs in your area.

 

• Try to distract yourself from urges to smoke. Talk to someone, go for a walk, or get busy with a task.
• When you first try to quit, change your routine. Use a different route to work. Drink tea instead of coffee. Eat breakfast in a different place.
• Do something to reduce your stress. Take a hot bath, exercise, or read a book.
• Plan something enjoyable to do every day.
• Drink a lot of water and other fluids.

 

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved seven medications to help you quit smoking:
1. Bupropion SR—Available by prescription.
2. Nicotine gum—Available over-the-counter.
3. Nicotine inhaler—Available by prescription.
4. Nicotine nasal spray—Available by prescription.
5. Nicotine patch—Available by prescription and over-the-counter.
6. Nicotine lozenge—Available over-the-counter.
7. Varenicline tartrate—Available by prescription.
• Ask your health care provider for advice and carefully read the information on the package.
• All of these medications will at least double your chances of quitting and quitting for good.
• Nearly everyone who is trying to quit can benefit from using a medication. However, if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, nursing, under age 18, smoking fewer than 10 cigarettes per day, or have a medical condition, talk to your doctor or other health care provider before taking medications.

 

• Alcohol: Avoid drinking alcohol. Drinking lowers your chances of success.
• Other smokers: Being around smoking can make you want to smoke.
• Weight gain: Many smokers will gain some weight when they quit, usually less than 10 pounds. Eat a healthy diet and stay active. Don't let weight gain distract you from your main goal—quitting smoking. Some quit-smoking medications may help delay weight gain.
• Bad mood or depression: There are a lot of ways to improve your mood other than smoking. Some smoking cessation medications also lessen depression.

 

 

 

• Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Cigarette smokers are 2–4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than nonsmokers.
• Cigarette smoking approximately doubles a person's risk for stroke. • Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels (arteries). Smokers are more than 10 times as likely as nonsmokers to develop peripheral vascular disease.
• Smoking causes abdominal aortic aneurysm.
• Secondhand smoke exposure causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.
• Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25–30% and their lung cancer risk by 20–30%.
• Breathing secondhand smoke has immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk of heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk.

 

Research has shown that smoking during pregnancy causes health problems for both mothers and babies, such as
• Pregnancy complications
• Premature birth
• Low-birth-weight infants
• Stillbirth
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

 

Respiratory Diseases
• Cigarette smoking is associated with a tenfold increase in the risk of dying from chronic obstructive lung disease.
• About 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung diseases are attributable to cigarette smoking.

 

Second-hand smoke is a combination of the smoke exhaled by a smoker and smoke that is released from the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar. Exposure to second-hand smoke increases an individual’s risk for lung cancer and heart disease. Smoking is also known to cause sudden infant death syndrome, acute respiratory infections and severe asthma in infants and children.