Smoking is a bad habit. But does anyone really know how bad? The number of smokers is still so high that it is doubtful, especially that the amount of smokers around us makes it extremely hard to break that habit. That’s why many smokers lull themselves into a false security, repeating the stories about healthy 90-year old smokers. The truth however, is quite different.

Everyone probably knows that smoking damages one’s health, appearance, and image. It is dangerous to your family and workmates (if you smoke at work), inhaling smoke is not a pleasant feeling, and your clothes and you start to stink to heavens after only a few weeks of smoking. However, this is only the beginning of what happens to smokers. The whole truth is known only to few people – not because it’s secret, but because it is so hard to believe in all bad things we do to ourselves by smoking.

The Terrible Truth

The facts can’t be contested. Every year there are over four hundred thousand casualties of smoking a year in the United States alone. This is almost a hundred times more than died at the WTC attack and ten times more than the US has lost during the 6-year war with terrorism. The moment a smoker lights his or her cigarette, he or she inhales almost five thousand dangerous chemicals. 69 of those compounds are known to be carcinogenic. The risk is practical – over three quarters of lung cancer fatalities in the US is the direct effect of smoking.

Respiratory problems are only a peak of an iceberg. Smoking is also known for increasing the chance of a stroke and heart diseases even if you’re only a second-hand smoker. It gets worse if one has been exposed to the cigarette smoke when one was a child. Then, there is a good chance of developing severe asthma and allergies as well as nose, throat and ear infections. While these conditions do not normally kill, they may change a happy life into a nightmare – only because parents wanted to take a puff from time to time.

We may say of course, that people are free to do whatever they want, even if they harm themselves. Of course that true – we live in a free country anyway – but the problem is that one of the main victims of our bad habits are our children. OR, to tell the truth, parents and children alike. First of all, cigarette smoke may cause infertility both in males and females. Then, a woman who breaths in cigarette smoke during pregnancy sentence their children to suffer from the respiratory problems for the rest of their life. In more extreme cases, smoking during pregnancy may also cause premature infant deaths and early deliveries.

That’s still not all…

The problem with cigarettes is not only the death – we will all eventually die. The problem is that the smoke will ruin our physical appearance long before that.

The teeth are the first victim of smoking. As the cigarette smoke tar sticks to the teeth, it changes their color into an ugly yellowish shade of brown. At the same time cigarette smoke prevents blood from nourishing the gums, slowly but inevitably making them weak. This may effect in swelling and mouth inflammation, but most importantly it makes gums to grow weaker and weaker with every passing year, making it impossible for them to act as the teeth support.

Lack of proper circulation in gums causes severe risk of teeth loss. This is not theoretical! A teenage smoker loses between four and six teeth before he reaches his mid-thirties. Poor blood circulation in the mouth often results also in other problems, most notably complications after dental operations. For example, smokers are more likely to suffer of a dry-pocket.

Compared to teeth loss and dry-socket problems other “niceties” of smoking look trivial. Nevertheless, they are also infuriating as well as 100% sure to show up. The changes include losing color by your skin, thinning of hair and its breaking off, and the terrible stink surrounding you, your clothes and your stuff. Even though you may not notice it at first – the change takes months and it’s not easy to spot a difference building up during so long time – other people will see it for sure. So, if you notice that people start distance from you during parties or try not to sit next to you, it is probably either due to the odor they smell or to your weary and unattractive look. Either way, do not blame them – you have done it to yourself.

The time is running. With every cigarette you smoke, you cause irrevocably damage to your health and (reversible) negative change in your appearance. The only right thing to do is quitting smoking right her and right now. Of course, nicotine is addictive and giving up cigarettes is much more difficult than one may think. Fortunately, Cig-Arette is able to minimize the negative symptoms you may suffer during the withdrawal period. Try it and it’ll help you get back in shape faster than you think!

Even though we have been lectured on bad effects of smoking for over forty years, the sad truth has yet reached the ears of all smokers. Even worse, as thousands of people take up smoking every year, many of them even before they turn 21, this addiction is far from being cured.

Why are people smoking? Te problem is that no one really knows, even the smokers themselves. Cigarettes devastate one’s image and good look, they cause terribly bad breath and they are quite expensive. What is worse, they also affect the health of everyone around you, especially children. To make things even worse, the initial effects of nicotine intake – the feeling of relaxation – does not last long and soon disappear completely when body accommodates for the nicotine and ceases to react on this drug.

The Terrible Truth

The statistics are staggering. With over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the US every year, smoking proves to be far more dangerous to US citizens than any war. The US Army has lost only a fraction of this number during the whole WWII! The Japanese and German armies tried for five years (and failed) to cause the damage Americans are now doing to themselves every year! With almost 9 out of 10 cases of respiratory illness caused directly by smoking cigarettes, it is hard to believe that smoking is still not banned.

Smoking however, does much more than just cause lung cancer. It affects also the heart making it more probable to have a stroke, and increasing chances for developing allergies, respiratory problems such as asthma and other chronic diseases. This may happen both to smokers themselves, and to those who only inhale the smoke, for example children of smoking parents.

Another problem is the health of children. If a woman smokes during pregnancy, or if she spends a lot of time around smokers, the child will probably develop heart problems and smaller lungs. To tell the truth, this is not even a chance, but a certainty. Those children who apparently do not suffer from such problems had a potential of being extremely healthy sportsmen. They lost that chance only because their mothers inhaled cigarette smoke.

There is even more than that…

Most smokers however will claim that all those risks of death are just a chance, and they are ready to take it for the cigarette’s sake. The problem is that some bad thing happen to every smoker. You may live for a long time even if you’re a chain-smoker. However, you will look like a death warmed up for the better part of your life – and this can’t be helped. It’s not the statistics, it is the real life.

First of all, smoking affects the color of your teeth, staining them yellow or brown. This makes dental cleaning every year a must. However, the gum problems that develop soon after are not so easily disposed of. Cigarette smoke prevents gums from receiving all necessary nutrients, making them weaker and eventually resulting in inadequate periodontal support for your teeth.

The teeth problems are what should really count to smokers. The chance of cancer or respiratory diseases may not seem real enough (though it is 100% real, too). On the other hand, losing teeth due to smoking is not theoretical. It will happen to every smoker, even though they may not notice the connection. If you start smoking at the age of 19, you will probably have five teeth less by the age of 36. To make things worse, cigarettes are also responsible for most after-dental surgery complications, slowing down the healing rate and making your mouth an ideal place for infections to settle in. This may not be obvious if you are generally in a good physical condition, but when the inside of the mouth is already under great strain after, say, teeth removal, the effects may be immediate.

Finally, the negative effects of smoking are not only about your health. Smoking can also affect your look and your wardrobe. If you compare photos before you started smoking with how you look like now, you’ll surely notice that your skin has lost its color and become dull, often with yellowish or greyish touch. Your hair problems are also nothing special – every smoker has less hair which is thinner and less nourished than the non-smoker. But the story does not end here. Cigarette smoke can also damage your clothes. It’s not only about the smell, it is also about its indirect ability to damage the clothes. As the smoke blends into the fabric, one needs wash and dry clean them regularly, even if one hasn’t worn this exact piece of clothing yet. Either you clean your clothes regularly and turn them into washed rags, or you decide to let them stink. Either way, do not blame the manufacturer – China cheap workforce is not responsible for your bad habits.

The time is running. With every cigarette you smoke, you cause irrevocably damage to your health and (reversible) negative change in your appearance. The only right thing to do is quitting smoking right her and right now. Of course, nicotine is addictive and giving up cigarettes is much more difficult than one may think. Fortunately, Cig-Arette is able to minimize the negative symptoms you may suffer during the withdrawal period. Try it and it’ll help you get back in shape faster than you think!

Anyone who’s ever successfully quit smoking can tell you it’s not an easy task. Most people fail several times before they finally succeed. There’s not ever a convenient time to quit. You can’t afford to lose your job because you exploded at your boss. Biting the head off your spouse over nothing most often results in a fight, followed by you lighting up. Who wants to use their vacation to quit?

Let’s face it. You need all the help you can get. Family members, especially if they are lifelong non-smokers, may not be able to be very helpful. On the other hand, the quit smoking forums are filled with sympathetic people who know just what you’re going through. The ones who have broken the habit can be especially helpful. Best of all, these quit smoking forums are peopled with individuals from all over the world, at all hours of the day and night. So, if you find yourself jumping out of your skin over desires for a little puff, unable to sleep in the wee hours, you can get online and find one of your quit smoking forum buddies to chat with and get you through the moment.

To gain maximum benefit from the quit smoking forums, you’ll want to first locate one in which you feel comfortable, ahead of your quit smoking date. Let the other members know of your upcoming quit date. You’ll find these people to be highly supportive. Some have already quit, but stick around the forum nonetheless, just to be able to be a success story. The quit smoking forum members often have some ingenious tricks and tips you might never think of on your own, to help you out.

The most difficult obstacles to quitting occurs in the first few days. This is when your body is flushing nicotine through your body, with no replenishments in sight. It’s all you can do to stop thinking about smoking. You are experiencing withdrawal from a substance you’ve had in your body for, probably, many years. Other unpleasant symptoms include sweating, sometimes profusely and at the most inopportune time, a hair trigger temper and sensations of toxins racing through your bloodstream. Insomnia and irrationality can also pose a considerable problem.

While the majority of the nicotine and other nasty chemicals contained in cigarettes is flushed from your system in the first 72 hours, your next obstacle is overcoming the psychological desires. Many smokers have triggers which cause them to automatically light up. For example, some people always have a cigarette with their morning coffee. Others, when thinking through a problem, light up to enhance their concentration. This process can be quite a bit more manageable if you join a quit smoking forum.

According to Narcanon, many former heroin addicts claim that quitting smoking is more difficult than kicking heroin! In large part, this is probably due to the fact that cigarettes are legal and readily available, 24 hours a day. Nonetheless, you can see why so many people fail many times before they meet with that glorious success.

Back in the day, cigarette companies advertised with impunity. Television, roadside billboards and magazines all promoted the smoking habit. It had not then been established that smoking led to all sorts of terrible medical conditions no one wants. It’s likely that tobacco companies were in the know, but the general public was not. At worst, it was considered to be a habit of questionable merit and not very physically attractive. It wasn’t always so. Remember the old movies with such legendaries as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, striking up and puffing away in a seductive and sought-after manner that the young people were eager to emulate? Well, times have changed.

For some decades, the smoking habit has been denigrated, with smokers being declasse individuals without the sense God gave a flea, Bogart and Bacall notwithstanding. Today, there’s been a complete turnaround from the advertising campaigns of old. Tobacco companies, in response to class action suits, actually have the audacity to include quitting tips on their website navigation bars.

Magazine ads and billboards are now forbidden territory for the cigarette industry. On the other hand, no smoking signs have become big business indeed. If you want to let everyone know of your distaste for tobacco, you can buy no smoking signs in any material you might imagine ” metal, plastic, wood ” you name it, you can get it. There are signs suited to posting at factories, home and office applications. There are no smoking signs you can place on doors, walls, and desks. For those who want to make their sentiments perfectly clear, there’s a desk plaque available proclaiming the smoking rules in sizes from subtle to you-can’t-miss-it. How about stickers? Engraved no smoking signs are yours at the click of your mouse. Custom designs can proclaim the rules in a friendly spirit. Please! No smoking!, surrounded by cute little vining plants to lessen the blow to those smokers sensitive to no smoking signs.

Want to establish strict boundaries? Go for legalese phrasing – No smoking within 50 feet! – that certainly makes the message clear.

What if you’re dealing with non-native English speaking smokers? Never fear. You can get your message across in numerous languages.

Some states, like Arizona and Louisiana, offer free no smoking signs for business owners. You just need to fill out some forms to qualify.

For the thrifty person who wants to make known their disdain for the habit, there’s downloadable clip art you can print out on your home printer and plaster all over the place.

Just to cover all the bases, you’ve got to consider that misled soul holding a cigarette as he approaches your premises. This eventuality is covered. You can purchase smoking shelters, outdoor ashtrays and a variety of trash containers for the safe and prompt disposal of these nasties. Surely there’s not a smoker alive who needs reminding. Just in case, there’s certainly no shortage of signs that unequivocally, say, no!