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Modifiable Risk Behavior: Home Overweight & Obesity High Blood Glucose High Blood Pressure Unhealthy Cholesterol Physical Inactivity Smoking

Smoking

It’s no secret that smoking is bad for your health—but for many more reasons than just protecting your lungs. Smoking also harms your heart health by:

• Lowering the amount of oxygen that reaches the organs, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
• Raising cholesterol levels and levels of other fats in your blood, which raises your risk of a heart attack.
• Raising blood pressure.

If you smoke, challenge yourself this month to quit. You can either quit cold turkey or gradually, with a group or by yourself. Talk to your health care team about quitting. They can help you choose the best way for you.

What can quitting do for me?

Some benefits of not smoking include:

• Less risk of heart attack, heart disease, stroke and PAD
• Lower blood pressure
• Less risk of foot ulcers, eye problems, nerve damage and kidney disease
• Less risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, lungs and bladder
• For women, less likelihood of a miscarriage or stillbirth
• For men, less risk of erectile dysfunction
• Less harm from second-hand smoke for your children and grandchildren

Preparing to quit

By studying your smoking habits, you may learn what events or activities make you smoke and how often you smoke. Before you quit smoking:

• Think of your own reasons to stop and write them down. Put the list where you’ll see it every day.
• Tell others you’ll need their help and understanding.
• Throw away your cigarettes, lighters, and ashtrays.
• Ask a friend to quit smoking with you.

Options for when you quit smoking:

• Go cold turkey. Quitting all at once works for some people.
• Quit smoking gradually by cutting back over several weeks.
• Use a nicotine patch, gum, inhaler or spray or ask for a prescription medicine.
• Ask your health care provider for information about counseling, acupuncture or hypnosis.

Set a date that you will aim for to be totally done with smoking. This should be during a time when your life is fairly calm, when stress levels are low and when withdrawal symptoms won’t interfere with your life as much. It’s also important to reward yourself for sticking to your goal and to set up a cheering squad to give you support.