By Shanna Dusablon
Life as a non-smoker in a smoker’s world:
Your clothes and hair stink when you come home from a club.
Your date has bad breath and kissing is like licking an ashtray.
You listen to your roommate coughing all night long.
You grew up in a family that smoke, now you suffer from asthma and allergies.
You wonder how someone can be so addicted that they will stand in the pouring rain just to have a smoke.
Smoking is a horrible addiction that usually starts during the teen years or while in college.
As a health educator, I often ask myself what is the best possible tool for preventing someone from starting to smoke, as well helping those who smoke realize the importance of quitting. The obvious tool would be to educate everyone on the personal health hazards and second-hand effects of smoking, including the risk for lung cancer, double the risk of heart disease and cervical cancer for women, and asthma and allergies in children. And, of course, there’s death.
Knowing this information, people continue to light that cigarette.
Why? I wish I knew the answer.
For those who have never smoked before, why begin now? Taking care of your health now is one of the most important jobs you have for your future.
For those who smoke, why not quit now? There are several strategies available to help you take the first step. The most important step is to make the decision to quit and mean it. Once that decision has been made, you can get support from family, friends, health care professionals, the patch, nicotine gum, specific medication and a host of other support systems.
The benefits will begin immediately. Within 20 minutes your blood pressure and pulse rate will begin to return to normal; within two days your sense of smell and taste improve; within two weeks, circulation gets better, lung function improves and walking gets easier.
Please take that first step.
—Ready to butt out? E-mail Shanna Dusablon at shanna.dusablon@pepperdine.edu
November 07, 2002