Practical Steps to Prevent Breast Cancer: Day 4 – Don’t Smoke, and Avoid Other People’s Smoke, Too

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This really goes without saying: Don’t smoke, and avoid other people’s smoke, too. 

Smokers and non-smokers alike know how bad smoking (and secondhand smoke) is to their health. On top of lowering quality of life and increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke, and at least 15 cancers – including breast cancer – it also causes smelly breath, bad teeth, and wrinkles. Now that’s motivation to stay smoke-free or quickly get smoke-free. 

Though electronic cigarettes can seem like safe alternatives to standard cigarettes, so much is unknown about their risks and benefits that it’s important to avoid them as well. For help quitting smoking, there are many FDA-approved nicotine-replacement options that have been shown to be safe and to double chances of success.

Tips and Tricks – Smoking

It’s hard to quit, so keep trying. If there’s one thing we all know about quitting smoking, it’s that it’s hard. It takes most people six or seven tries before they quit for good. So, if at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Don’t give up. Over a thousand Americans successfully quit smoking every day.

Talk to a health-care provider. Seeing a doctor or other health care professional may not be the first thing you think of when thinking about ways to quit smoking, but they can be fabulous sources of information and cessation aids that can help you kick the habit. Studies show that seeing a doctor for help quitting can double your chances of success.

Visit smokefree.gov. Whether you are just thinking about quitting, want help quitting, or are looking for information about quitting for a friend of family member, the federal website smokefree.gov is the place for you. They also host the innovative text message cessation program, smokefreetxt, and sites focused on specific groups: smokefreeVET. smokefreewomen, smokefreeteen, and the Spanish-language smokefreeespanol.

Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW. Similar to the federal smokefree.gov, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) will connect you to cessation information and resources in your state.

Talk to your kids about smoking. If you have kids – or grandkids or nieces and nephews – it’s important to with talk them from a young age about the dangers of tobacco and the need to stay away from cigarettes and other tobacco products.

Next Steps – Smoking

Looking for more in-depth information on smoking? Here are some good sources:

Smokefree.gov
http://smokefree.gov

American Cancer Society
http://goo.gl/glMlZx

The Truth Campaign
http://thetruth.com