Month: July 2007

The question, “how can I quit smoking?” is not really the full, true question that most smokers want answering. The real gist of the question I believe that most smokers want to know the answer to is “how can I quit smoking easily?” or “how can I quit smoking without any effort?” or “how can I quit smoking when I haven’t the willpower to?”

The answer to these questions is a valuable piece of information because quitting smoking is generally seen as a very difficult thing to do. When I finally managed to quit smoking back in early 2006, I actually found it very easy. What was the reason for this? Well, I knew how to quit smoking when I made my last attempt.

Unlike 95% of smokers, when I quit smoking, I had actually learned how to quit smoking before I bothered doing it. By learning what had to be done in advance, I found the process of quitting very easy.

Most smokers, when they chose to quit, do so without the full knowledge of what they are trying to do. They start by ‘giving up’ cigarettes and hoping to ‘beat the cravings’. They enter into the process knowing that they are going to have a battle on their hands.

To put it another way, any normal person will refer to the owner’s manual of a car, before attempting to change a wheel or even a light bulb on the vehicle. Once they have read the manual regarding changing the light bulb or the wheel, they will never read it again, because they know now how to do it. What’s more, when they do it for the first time, they know what to do and what to expect throughout the process.

The difference of course between changing a bulb and quitting smoking is that hopefully, you should only quit smoking once! But why is it that most people try to quit smoking several times?

Studies have shown that smoker on average take about 7 attempts, normally over several years to quit smoking. Whoa! That’s outrageous! Could you imagine how many cars would be abandoned on the road if we didn’t bother reading our owner’s manuals?

The reason of course why smokers take so many attempts to quit smoking is that they don’t know what they are doing! Each attempt is like another fumble round the back of the gym on prom night. But making light of this is unfair. When I quit, I knew what I was doing – I was like an unstoppable sex machine (if only -haha)! This made quitting so easy, it isn’t even worth making mention of.

Many smokers who use their ‘brute willpower’ to quit smoking rightly feel that they have achieved a great success over a crafty and devious foe. And they are right. Using willpower as motivation to quit smoking is bloody difficult! I know, I tried about 15 times to quit using willpower and got nowhere! I tried using nicotine replacement too, patches, gum, lozenges and inhalators, all to no avail.

Quitting smoking using willpower as your main weapon against nicotine addiction is a very difficult thing to do. Becoming a ‘gazillionaire’ by selling ice to Eskimos is easier than quitting smoking with willpower (I think).

Quitting smoking armed with the full knowledge of why you smoke and what effects smoking has on you (no not the health effects!) is a walk in the park. That is why, when I quit smoking I didn’t look upon it as a major achievement in my life. It was so simple, brushing my teeth properly (and I am 35!) is still more difficult than quitting smoking when you know how.

As ever, if you are trying to quit smoking, my most important message to you is to keep trying no matter how many times you fail. Never quit trying to quit.

“How can I quit smoking?” is one of the most important questions for any smoker. In the back of every smokers mind, most days is a question about how they can go without their lovely, tasty smokes! Anyone who actually knows the answer to this question and can add, without any effort to it, will be rich beyond belief.

In our modern lifestyles, we all want a magic pill that will stop us smoking, improve our bedroom performance and keep us a slim as a racing snake for our entire lives. We want this and we don’t want to have to do anything about it either.

But there is the rub.

There is always a little bit or a lot of effort involved in achieving anything of significance. So in answer to the question “how can I quit smoking?” the first response I would give is you will have to use some effort.

Making an effort to quit smoking is different from it being hard to stop smoking. Personally, I do not believe it is hard to stop smoking. The reason I have this outlandish opinion is because I also don’t think brain surgery is difficult – for brain surgeons!

Let me expand a little. I think that quitting smoking is easy because a) I learned how to do it and b) I did it and c) so now I know how easy it was.

Brain surgery is a skill that must be learned. Unless you are actually a brain surgeon, brain surgery may seem like a very difficult thing to do. It isn’t so long as a) you have studied and learned how to do it b) you have understood and practiced it and c) you successfully complete brain surgery.

OK, that may seem a bit brash so lets put it another way. Rather than saying “How can I quit smoking?”, lets say “How can I do brick laying?”

To become a brick layer, you must learn about the relevant materials – your bricks, blocks and stone and then learn about the relevant mortar that you need to use depending on the building blocks. You then need to learn how to put the mortar in the right place and lay the bricks etc. etc.

The point is, you may not be able to do brick laying but given a little time, studying and effort, you could probably learn how to build a straight and vertical wall. The point is you must learn.

My view on how to quit smoking is that it is all about education. There is a desire in our hectic lifestyle to just take some magic pill to cure all of our problems, but to be honest, one doesn’t exist. Sure Zyban boasts some effectiveness as does Chantix but they are far from 100% effective.

Smokers still want to smoke, irrespective of the pills you give them. Only by changing ones mindset to smoking is it possible to stop smoking with ease.

So in answer to the question, “How can I quit smoking?” My answer is to take some time and effort to learn how to quit smoking. You already know why you need to quit smoking, now it is time to actually learn how to quit smoking.

As ever, however many times you have tried and however many methods you have used, never stop trying to quit smoking.

In my years as a smoker, researching how to quit smoking whilst developing my EasyQuit System, I can truly say there must be over 60 methods of quitting smoking available. Some are effective, others less so and to be quite frank with you, some are utterly ludicrous. But, just because some methods do not work for some people, does not mean they cannot be effective for many others.

So how many quit smoking methods are there? Well, I think it is important to address the most well known methods first.

The commonest method of the many quit smoking ways there are is good old fashioned cold turkey. This is most often done by setting a date to quit, preparing oneself for that day and then using your brute willpower to overcome your desire to smoke before probably capitulating after about a day. Of the many quit smoking ways there are, studies suggest cold turkey has about a 1 in 20 chance of success.

The second best known method of the many quit smoking ways there are is Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). Personally, I hate this method of quitting smoking because it uses nicotine to try and help smokers off nicotine. I think that is utterly stupid! It is insane! If you want to read more about my hatred of NRT, read my article at Quit Smoking Motivator

However, as much as I disagree with the NRT approach to quitting smoking, it does boast a higher success rate than cold turkey with about 1 in 10 people quitting smoking for more than 1 year – but not quitting nicotine! Many people who use this method end up beholden to the drug companies instead of the tobacco companies and they are not free from nicotine addiction.

Another of the many quit smoking ways there are is to use drug such as Zyban (wellbutrin or bupropion) or Chantix (varenicline or champix in the UK). These methods can be combined with NRT but in effect, they interfere with the psychoactive effects of nicotine in the brain. Unfortunately, even the big brain boxes that design these drugs aren’t clever enough to know exactly how they work which could be a worry.

Using these drugs can also have side effects ranging from mild to severe. Chantix can cause severe nausea to the point where patients must stop taking the drug and about 1 in 1000 Zyban users end up having seizures.

Hypnosis is another well known if little understood option amongst the many quit smoking ways available to smokers. Whilst there are many sceptics about this process, anecdotal evidence suggests it can be very effective. Furthermore, smokers can either use a hypnotist locally or just buy hypnosis audio courses over the internet. In terms of accessibility and effectiveness, this makes hypnosis a serious consideration for any would-be quitter.

A less well-known method for quitting smoking is the use of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). Hypnosis, where your brain is effectively ‘re-programmed’ to stop you smoking by making alternative emotional associations with your behaviour is the very opposite of CBT.

Instead of masking emotions, using CBT, a smoker takles them head on. Typically, CBT exposes smokers to a series of truths about smoking that are not commonly accepted in society. An example would be that smoking is not a habit; it is an addiction to nicotine – to call it a habit is wrong.

By using CBT to reveal many of the misconceptions of smoking, smokers find that they can have an ‘epiphany’ moment. This epiphany can reveal to them what smoking is actually all about and it makes it incredibly easy to quit.

The one draw back of the system is that only the smoker can have the epiphany! There is no way that it can be forced upon a smoker so having an open mind is crucial to achieving success with CBT. However, despite this concern, CBT has been seen to be incredibly effective with anecdotal evidence of up to 96% success rates.

Either way, which ever of the many quit smoking ways you may chose, whether it be CBT, NRT, Zyban or hypnosis, the most important approach is to keep trying to quit smoking. Never quit trying to quit!

Virtually every smoker in the world would pay a good price for the answer to “how to quit smoking easily”. Whilst studies have indicated that as many as 80% of smokers yearn to quit, unfortunately, they spend very little time or money on trying to quit.

Internet search engine data suggests that quit smoking information is searched for more than twice as much during the 4-week period around New Year. The sad fact of the matter is that most smokers have a look for information and end up reading the same tired old advice about how to quit smoking – and that it isn’t easy. Unfortunately, most of this information is based on why they should quit smoking. They then fail to quit smoking and leave it another year before having another go.

And so the cycle continues.

Firstly, in answer to the question of “how to quit smoking easily”, there is no method that doesn’t require effort. It is easy to quit smoking, but it requires effort and there is a difference. To put it another way, making love is easy to do but it does require effort. Do you see what I mean?

Secondly, if you want to know how to quit smoking easily, telling you that you are killing yourself smoking is not going to make it any easier. Of course all smokers these days know that they are doing harm to themselves – that is why they all want to quit smoking. The “health police” go around reminding smokers that they are doing all this harm to themselves does not help them quit smoking.

In fact, it doesn’t help smokers in any way quit smoking by telling them what damage they are doing to themselves. The only way to help someone in such a predicament is to tell him or her HOW to quit smoking. After all, every smoker in the world knows WHY he or she should quit smoking. The ‘health police’ never seem to have an answer for this.

Thirdly, if you want to know how to quit smoking easily, you have to change your attitude towards cigarettes. That is all done in your head – by changing the way you think about cigarettes. Taking pills or taking more nicotine in another form does not do it – changing your mindset does.

I know people who have said they will quit smoking cigarettes and only ‘have a cigar or two once in a while’. Within a couple of weeks of giving up cigarettes, they are smoking 10 cigars a day that probably do more damage than the 20 cigarettes they used to smoke. This is because they are addicted to nicotine and will get it in any form they can

Fourthly, possibly the most important means of how to quit smoking easily, is to accept your life without cigarettes. After all, you weren’t puffing away on a Marlboro when you were born. It just might be possible to spend the rest of your life without cigarettes!

As ever, my final piece of advice is to never quit trying to quit smoking.

Virtually every smoker in the world would pay a good price for the answer to “how to stop smoking easily”. Whilst studies have indicated that as many as 80% of smokers yearn to stop, unfortunately, they spend very little time or money on trying to stop.

Internet search engine data suggests that stop smoking information is searched for more than twice as much during the 4-week period around New Year. The sad fact of the matter is that most smokers have a look for information and end up reading the same tired old advice about how to stop smoking – and that it isn’t easy. Unfortunately, most of this information is based on why they should stop smoking. They then fail to stop smoking and leave it another year before having another go.

And so the cycle continues.

Firstly, in answer to the question of “how to stop smoking easily”, there is no method that doesn’t require effort. It is easy to stop smoking, but it requires effort and there is a difference. To put it another way, making love is easy to do but it does require effort. Do you see what I mean?

Secondly, if you want to know how to stop smoking easily, telling you that you are killing yourself smoking is not going to make it any easier. Of course all smokers these days know that they are doing harm to themselves – that is why they all want to stop smoking. The “health police” go around reminding smokers that they are doing all this harm to themselves does not help them stop smoking.

In fact, it doesn’t help smokers in any way stop smoking by telling them what damage they are doing to themselves. The only way to help someone in such a predicament is to tell him or her HOW to stop smoking. After all, every smoker in the world knows WHY he or she should stop smoking. The ‘health police’ never seem to have an answer for this.

Thirdly, if you want to know how to stop smoking easily, you have to change your attitude towards cigarettes. That is all done in your head – by changing the way you think about cigarettes. Taking pills or taking more nicotine in another form does not do it – changing your mindset does.

I know people who have said they will stop smoking cigarettes and only ‘have a cigar or two once in a while’. Within a couple of weeks of giving up cigarettes, they are smoking 10 cigars a day that probably do more damage than the 20 cigarettes they used to smoke. This is because they are addicted to nicotine and will get it in any form they can

Fourthly, possibly the most important means of how to stop smoking easily, is to accept your life without cigarettes. After all, you weren’t puffing away on a Marlboro when you were born. It just might be possible to spend the rest of your life without cigarettes!

As ever, my final piece of advice is to never stop trying to stop smoking.

There are many, many methods to stop smoking available through many means including, books, videos, CDs, workshops, consultants and to download over the internet. Of the many methods to stop smoking out there, there are often very many very zany approaches amongst the more sensible ones.

My own take on quitting smoking came about after many months researching as many methods to stop smoking as I could. I came to realise over time that the most important method to stop smoking came solely from myself. The answer did not lie in a pill or a potion or some laser. The answer as to how to stops smoking comes from within. It is about having the right mindset.

Lets look at the common methods to stop smoking that most smokers will fight with several times before succeeding and becoming smoke free forever.

Cold Turkey or Willpower. This is the most obvious method to stop smoking. Get up one day and say ‘no’ to cigarettes. Sometimes, people take a little more time over this method and fill out diaries to identify triggers and detail when and how much they smoke. Only 1 in 20 people who try to quit using this method will success. Or to put it another way, if you try 20 times you might actually do it!

Nicotine Replacement Therapy or NRT. This is the patch, gum, microtab, lozenge, inhalator or nasal spray aid method to stop smoking. It is much vaunted by the pharmaceutical industry as a means to help smokers quit. It boasts a 10% success rate – 1 in 10 people stop smoking. However, it is often overlooked that whilst 1 in 10 stop smoking, they do not overcome their addiction to nicotine – which is why smokers smoked in the first place.

If you remain addicted to nicotine, then you are always at risk of falling back into the spiral of despair that is smoking cigarettes and consigning yourself to an early grave.

I am 100% against quitting smoking using NRT. It is not a sensible way to address the addiction to nicotine. If you want to read more of my opinion on this matter, visit my blog at: http://quit-smoking-motivator.blogspot.com/

Zyban is another of the many methods to stop smoking. The drug is also known as wellbutrin or bupropion, and although unknown exactly how, it seems to interfere with a smoker’s brain chemistry and put them off smoking. Legend has it that the smoking cessation factor of Zyban was only seen whilst studying the side effects of wellbutrin, the anti-depression version of the drug.

Zyban boast about the same effectiveness as a method to stop smoking as NRT but this can be improved 50% or so when Zyban and NRT are used together. However, the use of these drugs also goes hand in hand with some form of counselling to motivate smokers to stop.

The new ‘wonder drug’ taking the market is varenicline or Chantix (Champix in the UK). It is reported to be able to wean up to 44% of smokers off cigarettes. Again, like Zyban, it is not know exactly how it works but is is thought to interfere with the brain chemistry of the smoker.

Both Zyban and Chantix as methods of stopping smoking come with dangers. Zyban is known to cause seizures in some patients and varenicline causes extreme nausea in up to 30% of patients. Both drugs need a course of counselling alongside the drug in order to be effective.

Hypnosis is another well known method for quitting smoking. I understand (although I am not a big fan of hypnosis) that it can achieve much better success rates than any of the previously mentioned methods. Of the methods to stop smoking that are available, hypnosis is very relaxing and involves no drugs which cannot be a bad thing.

Another method to stop smoking is the use of cognitive behavioural therapy or CBT. It can literally be translated as ‘think’ and ‘behave’ therapy. The way you think and the way you behave are examined in order to change the way you think and thus the way you react to your thoughts, feelings and environment. CBT uses neither drugs nor your sub-conscious mind.

The fact of the matter is that most people do not ‘control’ their lives; they just react to their emotions and feelings. If you feel down, you might comfort eat for example. That is not eating because you are hungry, it is eating to take your mind off something else.

Using CBT can be an extremely successful treatment to help people stop smoking permanently. Of the people I follow-up who have used my own CBT course, the people who succeed (and that is an overwhelming majority) not only stop smoking but actually know they will never smoke again and that is because they have a different attitude toward smoking, having used CBT.

Stopping smoking is an amazing achievement for any smoker and one that should be celebrated whichever method to stop smoking is used. Stopping smoking and knowing you will never smoke ever again can only be achieved through changing your mental attitude towards smoking, whether that be through counselling, hypnosis or CBT.

As ever, the most important method to stop smoking is to never stop trying to stop.

There are a whole host of quit smoking side effects and not all of them are pleasant. Besides the obvious health benefits, there are also a number of side effects associated with withdrawal from nicotine. Coupled to this, if you quit smoking using a medication such as zyban or chantix, you may pick up some other drug related side effects.

The most obvious reason why people quit smoking is for the health benefits but what are they specifically?

Notably, blood pressure, heart rate and lung efficiency all improve very quickly after quitting smoking – in a matter of days. Nicotine levels and carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to natural levels with in a couple of days. These are very positive quit smoking side effects.

Smokers will also develop a much better sense of taste and their breathing may well become easier. However, one frequently reported quit smoking side effect is the amount of coughing some ex-smokers suffer from. In my own experience, I found the first six months to be a rather cough filled period of my life. It was all ‘wet’ as the cilia (the little hairs in you lungs) got to work clearing 20 years of tar out of my lungs! I also contracted more colds that winter than ever before but that could be for completely different reasons.

Statistical research shows circulation and lung function improve dramatically over the 10 to 15 year period after smokers quit. And quit smoking side effects are all positive in terms of improving life span with lung cancer risk halved over 15 years and heart attack risk halved after just one year.

The side effects associated with Zyban (Wellbutrin or bupropion) and Chantix (Champix or Varenicline) can all be rather unpleasant. Personally, I do not favour the use of drugs if at all possible because I believe quitting smoking is all in your head – but that is another story!

The worst quit smoking side effect associated with Zyban is the likelihood of seizure when taken as part of a quit smoking regimen. The higher the dose the higher the risk and zyban was initially removed from the FDAs approved list after a number of seizures in patients.

Chantix has several minor side effects but in as many as 30% of smokers taking the drug, the therapy must be abandoned due to nausea and vomiting. You understand why I would advise to steer clear if at all possible!

The other quit smoking side effects aside from the positive health benefits and the negative side effects of the two most widely used drug therapies, are to do with nicotine withdrawal itself.

The list of side effects noticed when a person quits smoking is long – some are nice like the improved sense of smell and taste, some are unpleasant. There is the heightened anxiety that comes from trying to quit nicotine. People often have a much shorter temper and are irascible at the slightest thing.

Others include an inability to concentrate or to sleep sometimes compounded by other quit smoking side effects such as postnasal (back of your mouth) drip, sore throat, dry mouth and headache. An insatiable cough can be a big hindrance too!

Intestinal discomfort can also be suffered with increased flatulence, constipation, nausea and cramps being amongst some of the less pleasant side effects. It is recommended that if you are suffering from increased appetite when you quit smoking, eating more fruit and raw vegetables such as carrot or raw cauliflower and drinking plenty of fluids will help your digestion.

There are many, many more perceived quit smoking side effects and everyone suffers a different selection of the wide range – including breaking out in spots like a teenager, sweating profusely, fatigue and tingling extremities!

The downside of all of these quit smoking side effects is that whilst each one is not so bad on its own, the cumulative effect of so many negative side effects act as a trigger to break down your commitment to stop smoking. No matter what the inconvenience of the side effects, they are a small price to pay for the benefits of quitting smoking.

As ever, whatever you do and whichever method you use to quit smoking, never quit trying to quit!

It is thought that over 85% of smokers want to quit smoking. The main reason given by smokers for wanting to quit is that they know that they are damaging their health. Financial concerns come in second place to health concerns. Most smokers will cite fear of lung cancer as their main health concern, but there are many other health problems associated with smoking.

Whilst as a smoker, you may cite health concerns as the reason they wish to quit smoking; it is common not to know what happens when you quit smoking.

From the list of what happens when you quit smoking, it could be prudent to mention what happens when you don’t quit smoking. From the age of 35-40 it is recognised that every year of continues smoking will actually reduce your life expectancy by 3 months on average!

The commonly listed things of what happens when you quit smoking, in time order are firstly the rapid reduction in nicotine levels and more importantly carbon monoxide levels in the blood stream. Carbon monoxide binds to the red blood cells and prevents them from carrying oxygen to the muscle. Energy levels increase rapidly after not smoking for as little as a day.

Within two days of quitting, lung efficiency will start to improve and lung function will stop declining. Quite astonishingly, lung cancer risk reduces rapidly (Source: ASH) in as little as two days also.

From a quality of life point of view, what happens when you quit smoking after one month is very noticeable. Energy levels, taste and smell will have improved along with blood circulation. The resultant effects are an improved appearance and better radiance of the skin. Wrinkles will seem less deep and skin will become more flexible giving a more youthful appearance, even in elderly quitters!

During this first month, most of the nicotine withdrawal side effects will be felt. These side effects include cravings, restlessness, unhappiness (not clinical depression!), loss of concentration, light-headedness, constipation, sore throat and disturbed sleep. These are all very negative effects of what happens when you quit smoking and need determination so as not to ‘give up the quit’.

Coughing and wheeziness will subside over the course of the first year. Any chronic (long term) bronchial irritation will start to subside also. However, any emphysema type lung damage – the destruction of a lung’s elasticity – will remain irrespective. Unfortunately, reversing emphysema is not what happens when you quit smoking!

Finally, from the end of the first year after smoking, heart failure risk is halved from that of a full time smoker. Over the following 15 years, heart failure risk declines to that of someone who has never smoked. Along with this, lung cancer risk is also halved. These are probably the most significant and beneficial benefits of what happens when you quit smoking and provide a thoroughly good reason to do so.

There are many different quit smoking programs available to day. In this article we shall look at some of them and their relative effectiveness.

The most obvious quit smoking program is to use the old cold turkey method. This involves simply depriving yourself of cigarettes or tobacco. It has the very lowest success rate of all quit smoking programs at around 5% after 6 months.

Another well known quit smoking program is the use of nicotine replacement therapy or NRT. Nicotine replacement therapy products vary from transdermal patchs that infuse nicotine across the skin, to gums, inhalers and nasal sprays.

The gums, lozenges, spray and inhalation systems all leave a pretty nasty taste in the back of the throat and the patches do little to help immediate cravings. Only about 1 in 10 people who try manage to stay smoke free after 6 months of using one of these quit smoking programs.

Zyban or Wellbutin is another well know quit smoking program. It is thought to double your chances when taken alone, up to 10%. When used in conjunction with NRT, this quit smoking program can win over up to 20% of quitters after 6 months. As programs go, combined zyban and NRT is an effective quit smoking program.

Recently, a product called Varenicline and known as Chantix or Champix has been approved for the market. This is considered to be a ‘magic pill’ solution to smoking and its manufacturers boast up to 44% success after 6 months. Independent studies, however, have been unable to reach such heady success and success rates are considered to be in the high 20% region after 6 months. Again, this is a relatively effective quit smoking program.

Finally, there are a number of other highly effective quit smoking programs available over the internet. They are not ‘magic pills’ as they require time and effort from smokers to address their desire to quit smoking.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapies, Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming are all recognised alternative methods for quitting smoking. These quit smoking programs claim very high success rates and the British Medical Association has published success rates in excess of 70% for some of these methods.

When you are looking to quit smoking once and for all, it may not be the accepted and well known methods that will work for you, so it always worth looking at the alternatives.

There are many quit smoking benefits – and obviously health benefits are the main reason why most people want to quit smoking.

Secondly, money plays a part in quitting smoking and the benefit to the average smoker is in excess of $1500 per year, so that is a good quit smoking benefit!

Thirdly, the way you and your clothes and your car and your house smell after you have stopped smoking are more good quit smoking benefit. For non- or ex-smokers, tobacco is a very pervasive and disagreeable odour.

Your appearance will also improve as your skin will have a better pallor to it and your teeth can be cleaned a little better without the incessant wash of smoke over them.

But lets get back to the health benefits. It will obviously vary from person to person, but every smoker can enjoy a several benefits from quitting smoking.

1) Within 20 minutes of a cigarette, blood pressure and heart rate decline to ‘normal’.

2) Within 8 hours, or a nights sleep, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are down by at least a half.

3) Within 2 days, carbon monoxide and nicotine will be virtually non-existent in the blood. Your lungs will start the process of cleaning themselves and your taste and smell will start to improve. However, whilst these are good quit smoking benefits, it is at around this time that the withdrawal symptoms will be at their worst.

It is not uncommon for a sore throat, coughing, irritability, constipation and sleeplessness to set in at this point of quitting tobacco. These are common side effects of quitting smoking.

4) Over the coming few months, breathing will become easier and energy levels will increase. The blood’s oxygen carrying capacity is back to 100% and the circulation of the body will have already improved.

5) By the end of the first year, lung function can improve by up to 10%, and wheeziness could become a thing of the past.

6) Ten years after quitting smoking, the ex-smoker benefits from a halved risk of lung cancer and a normal risk of heart attack.

Other quit smoking benefits include confidence, fitness and energy levels being better along with a much improve complexion and more youthful skin. Fertility in both men and women improves and the chance of pregnancy complications is much reduced.

One of the biggest quit smoking benefits can be found in families; infants have a much higher chance of still birth, premature birth or even cot death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS). Children of smokers have higher chances of asthma, pneumonia and chest and ear infections during childhood and are much more likely to become smokers themselves.

Quit smoking benefits are numerous, the disadvantages of quitting smoking are non-existent!