THE REWARDS OF STOPPING
It is better, of course, never to start smoking. But the
rewards of stopping are great. Recent studies show that if smoking is stopped
before lung cancer has actually started, lung tissue tends to heal itself. Even
for those who have smoked long and heavily, the lung cancer risk begins to
decrease about one year after the habit is abandoned and then continues to
decrease progressively until after ten years it is very little higher than for
people who have never smoked regularly.
One recent study
compared the lung cancer death rate among British physicians, a large
proportion of who have stopped smoking, with that of the population in general.
The physicians' death rate from the disease declined 30 percent while the lung
cancer rate for British men in general increased 25 percent. The death rate
from coronary heart disease decreases rapidly with cessation of smoking.
And
while some people who stop smoking weight, and overweight is a factor in heart
disease, it has been calculated that a man of average weight who has
customarily smoked 40 cigarettes a day and stops would have to gain at least 75
pounds to offset the added years of life he can expect from no smoking. In
chronic bronchitis and emphysema, for which immediate cessation of smoking is
an essential part of treatment, elimination of the habit reduces cough and
other symptoms within a few weeks.
While lung tissue destroyed by emphysema is not replaced,
usually the progress of the disease is slowed down and may even be arrested.
According to Dr. Donald Frederickson, Director of New York City's Smoking
Control Program, who has had considerable experience with people who wish to
give up smoking, a major reason for the desire, even among the young, is to
avoid not just possible death from lung cancer or heart disease but to minimize
the risk of early disability.
Dr. Frederickson reports that many smokers tell him:
"Dying doesn't bother me- after all, once you're dead, you're dead. And I
calculate my chances of developing lung cancer to be relatively small. But the
idea of spending fifteen or twenty years with a chronic disease, that
interferes with the enjoyment of life and reduces my ability to function-well,
that's too much.
Smoking just isn't worth it." There are, in addition,
many other rewards of abandoning the habit: a better taste in the mouth and a
better taste of foods; reduced fatigue and shortness of breath; sounder sleep;
amelioration and even disappearance of cough and nasal stuffiness; fewer
headaches; reduced tensions; greater safety. Cigarette breath will disappear.
There will be no more cigarette burn holes in clothing, furniture, rugs, and
table cloths. And there will be money savings, a significant amount in the
course of a year. There are, at this writing, 19 million ex-cigarette smokers
in the country.
About one of every five adult men has dropped the habit. And
those who give it up report a great sense of satisfaction, a tremendous pride
in being able to do it.
