To the editor,
Every 13 seconds someone in the world dies from smoking. About 1,650 of those people are Nova Scotians. May 31, 2010, is World No-Tobacco Day and with lung cancer being the leading cause of death in Nova Scotia, with 85 per cent of cases being related to tobacco, it’s important that Nova Scotian smokers join the global movement and take the first step to becoming tobacco free.
The dangers of smoking are well known such as shortness of breath, heart and lung disease, cancer, asthma, and emphysema. A smoker inhales over 5,000 chemicals including acetone (paint stripper), carbon monoxide (car exhaust), phenol (disinfectant), and cadmium (gasoline), each time they smoke.
What’s not so widely known is that the benefits of quitting smoking begin almost immediately after the last cigarette. For example, 20 minutes after smoking, blood pressure and pulse rate may return to normal. Within two hours the level of nicotine in the body can drop by half. After being smoke-free for one year, a smoker’s risk of developing heart disease is reduced by half and after five years, their risk of developing lung cancer is also significantly reduced.
Quitting smoking takes more than will power, it takes skills. Talk to your doctor for tools and resources to help you successfully kick the habit. On May 31, make the decision to change.
Ross Leighton, BSc, MD, FRCSC, FACS
President
Doctors Nova Scotia
www.doctorsNS.com
