Smoking is an addictive habit seen across the globe, with around 1.1 billion people using tobacco. It started as early as the 1600s and right up until around 80 years ago, was advertised as a ‘healthy’ choice with many doctors advocating the habit.
Fast forward to 2019 and the devastating impacts of smoking are well known. There is a huge amount of diseases and illness associated with smoking tobacco, many leading to premature death.
Do you feel like you want to step into 2019 as a healthier and happier version of yourself? Do you think it is time to kick your smoking habit to the curb once and for all? Here we explore the key reasons to put out that cigarette for good.
Health
The most obvious reason to quit smoking is to improve your health. Current statistics state that tobacco kills around half of all smokers, equalling around 6 million deaths per year. It has been linked to several health issues, including asthma, cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, premature birth and even blindness. If we look at the data for lung disease in particular, ‘75% of lung disease deaths are directly attributed to smoking’.
By quitting this year, you can take back control of your health and start to reduce the possibility of developing one of these illnesses. If you have tried to quit before and failed, why not replace traditional cigarettes with e-cigarettes? The NHS states that vaping is ‘95% less harmful than smoking’ as e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco or many dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes. Companies such as VIP Premium Vaping offer a range of high quality vaping products that might help you to give up smoking for good.
Wealth
Every smoker will admit that the habit is not cheap. The average cost of a pack of 20 cigarettes is £10.40, totalling £3,796 per year for those that smoke a pack a day. Whilst the weekly purchases might not seem huge at the time, over time, smoking is a huge investment to make. If we use the calculation above, we can work out that the average smoker will spend a massive £37,960 over the course of ten years. Just imagine what you could do with that cash?!
Family
Psychologists have undertaken a study into ‘imitation’ behaviours displayed by children. It concludes that as children learn, grow and develop, they imitate the behaviours of the adults around them. So, if you smoke around your family, there is a higher chance that they will pick up the habit too. By quitting, you are showing your children that it is not a wise choice.
But it’s not just the ‘role model’ aspect you should consider. Second hand smoke causes around 600,000 deaths per year, so by stopping, you are reducing your friends and family’s chances of developing serious illnesses as well as yourself.
It is never too late to quit. Take the first step towards a healthier future today.
