by wildcherry on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 | Health, Life | 2 Comments

November 19 is the American Cancer Society’s 34th Great American Smokeout. Smokers are encouraged to use this day to quit smoking altogether, or to finally put that action plan into place.

Smokers who quit at age 35 gain an average of eight years of of life expectancy; those who quit at age 55 gain approximately five years, and even quitting at 65 will add about three years.

In the long-term, within five to 15 years after quitting, the risk of stroke is reduced to that of a non-smoker; after 10 years, the death rate from lung cancer is cut to about half that of the person who continues to smoke; and after 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker’s.

Short term effects are immediate. Heart rate and blood pressure drop within 20 minutes after the last cigarette. Between two weeks to three months later, circulation improves and lung function increases. Between one to nine months after quitting, things really begin to change for the better. Coughing and shortness of breath decrease and you begin to feel the benefits of normal lung function — increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection. If you’re a long-term smoker, you probably can’t even imagine how good that would feel.

The American Cancer Society wants to help you quit and is offering online resources (Great American Smokeout website) as well as personalized telephone coaching (American Cancer Society Quit for Life ® 1-800-227-2345) by trained specialists.

One very important component to real health care reform rests with individuals and our responsibility for our own health and well-being. Use of tobacco is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States, responsible for 30 percent of cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer deaths.

The financial consequences of tobacco use are staggering — $193 billion in health care expenditures and loss of productivity. That’s a lot of expense for something completely preventable.

If you smoke around others, it should come as no surprise that secondhand smoke is a huge problem, causing between 35,000 and 40,000 deaths from heart disease every year.

Tags: Addicted, Addicted To Smoking, addiction, Cigarettes, Cigars, Easy, Emphysema, freedom, great american smoke out, great american smoke out 2009, great american smokeout, great american smokeout 2009, Harmful Chemicals, Hart Disease, How, national smoke out day 2009, Nicotine, Pipes, Quit, quit smoking, Reason To Quit Smoking, Smoking, Stop, Stop Smoking, Support Groups For Quitting, Tobacco, Wrinkles

by nate on Friday, October 24th, 2008 | Health | 7 Comments

Before we start, I’d like to introduce you all to an old friend of mine, he is actually a wonderful-genius-full of dedciation person. We went to the same junior high school and I just found out recently that he pursued his medical degree. Like I mention before, he is a smart and very kind in personality… I’m trying to persuade him to join this community just in case any of you have any medical inquiries…so without further due, please welcome the first writing of Doctor Adhi within this blog…

by permission of: doctoradhi.com/blog

Today was one of my busy day, and suddenly I felt headache this afternoon. I first thought this might be caused by hypoglycemia, but then it didn’t go even after I finished my dinner. I wanted to take coffee, to help reduce the headache, but I was afraid I will have difficulty to sleep tonight. So, while I’m now fighting my headache (damn, I rarely feel this happening in my head!), I would like to paste my article about coffee.
Some of us are really addicted to coffee. I have some friends who always start their morning with a cup of coffee. They say that they can’t concentrate on their jobs if they miss a cup of coffee in the morning. Some believe that missing coffee in the morning will generate such an headache. So, is it true?
Caffeine inside the coffee is really seducing. Starting from a cup of hot coffee with the scrambled-egg breakfast (you start feeling hungry, huh?) until a cold starbucks frapuccino, caffeine cannot be separated from our daily life. In medical point of view, yes it is a vasoconstrictor that can help reduce the headache symptoms. And since it has sympathetic effect, caffeine is really a help for us to stay awake and keep concentrating.
But lately, there’re pros & cons about the caffeine addiction. The pros say that caffeine is good for our health, it can improve memory, decrease fatigue, and keep the concentration. Consumption of 300 mg caffeine has little evidence of health risks and some health benefits. But don’t forget that coffee can also increase the blood pressure, so older people should be careful about that. Some people will experience a withdrawal syndrome. If they suddenly stop drinking coffee, they will sometimes feel fatigue, irritable, have trouble concentrating, and drowsiness.
As a conclusion, it’s not wrong to start your day with coffee, but remember also that sometimes it can bring discomfort feeling to your stomach. So I do suggest that you don’t miss your meal while you’re having your caffeine drink.

Tags: addiction, caffeine, coffee, doctor, healthy, healthy living