Many want to quit smoking – but it is not uncommon for addiction to gain the upper hand again. What are the advantages of an immediate stop? And why does it make sense to stop during the Corona crisis?
The last cigarette: Anyone who does this has a lot of work to do as a smoker. There are many hurdles before the successful smoking cessation – from withdrawal symptoms to weight problems to the “inner bastard”. Many relapse. For the World No Tobacco Day next Sunday, May 31, an overview of why it is worth stopping smoking:
What are the risks of quitting smoking?
If you keep your hands off the cigarette, you generally reduce the risk of various diseases. So is Smoke directly responsible for about a fifth of all cancers, but also heart diseases, high blood pressure, Strokes or chronic bronchitis can often be attributed to smoking.
For example, almost 40,000 people die of tobacco-related cardiovascular disease each year. Anyone who smokes or has smoked also shows a much higher risk, a rheumatoid arthritis – one Joint inflammation – to develop. On average, a heavy smoker dies on average ten years earlier than a non-smoker.
What exactly does the waiver bring to health?
According to the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the function of the airways improves just three days after the last cigarette. After a week, the blood pressure drops. After one to nine months, coughing fits, nasal congestion and shortness of breath decrease. The lungs are gradually cleared by removing phlegm. The risk of infection is reduced.
Two years after stopping smoking, a former smoker has almost the same risk of cardiovascular disease as a non-smoker. Those who are smoke-free for five years are on par with non-smokers in terms of heart attack risk. After five years, the risk of cancer in the oral cavity, throat, esophagus and bladder also halves. The risk of stroke can drop to that of a non-smoker after just two to five years.
What about the dreaded lung cancer?
Ten years after quitting, a former smoker is at half the risk for Lung canceras if he kept on puffing. For example, anyone who smoked for 40 years and put away the dump five years ago can still develop lung cancer today. According to doctors, at least the risk no longer increases. The risks of larynx and pancreatic cancer are also decreasing.
How does non-smoking affect life time?
According to DKFZ calculations, more than ten cigarettes a day steal an average of 9.4 years for men and 7.3 years for women. Even moderate consumption of less than ten cigarettes a day still reduces life expectancy for both genders by about five years. The worst case is an obese heavy smoker who uses a lot alcohol drinks and eats a lot of red meat – he loses up to 17 years of life expectancy compared to the person with the cheapest risk profile. It’s almost 14 years for a woman.
Why is an impending weight gain discouraging?
According to research, four out of five former smokers gain an average of four and a half kilograms within the first one to two years after quitting. The cause is a reduced metabolism and an increased calorie intake after quitting smoking. Nicotine speeds up the metabolic processes. That is why smokers consume up to 200 kilocalories more per day than non-smokers. Nicotine also inhibits appetite. After stopping smoking, the body burns less energy, and at the same time, many eat sweets and snacks instead of cigarettes.
Does smoking increase the risk of corona?
Smoking seems loud Robert Koch Institute increase the risk of developing a serious illness. However, the scientific data is still very weak and the theses partially contradict each other. For example, a Canadian study indicates that smokers are particularly at risk because of a certain enzyme that uses coronaviruses as an entry point. Studies in China also see smoking as a risk. In a French study with 500 Covid-19 patients, only five percent of those affected were smokers.
You can find help on stopping smoking at www.rauchfrei-info.de, www.rauch-frei.info and www.träger-raucherberatung.de.
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