Today, April 29th, 2010, marks the 38th day since I’ve smoked a cigarette. The day that I smoked my final cigarette, March 22nd, will be a day that I remember for a long time. That day was the start of a new life, that of a non-smoker. I continue to feel improvement mentally, physically, etc. every day that passes by. It has become increasingly easier and easier to resist the urge to light up. The hardest time, for me, was the first week.
I went to go pick up lunch at a local restaurant that I frequent today. I noticed when I pulled up to the restaurant; there was a car-full of middle-aged women (whom I assume were on their lunch break) who were ALL smoking cigarettes before they went inside to eat! This was surprising to me for 2 reasons, one because I don’t really see older women smoking a lot, especially 4 of them in one car. Secondly, when I did smoke, I prefer to have a cigarette after my meal, not before it. This was of course because of recent anti-smoking legislation; smokers (such as the 4 women in the car) have to resort to smoking before and/or after they eat. Even when I did smoke I didn’t find women smoking attractive. But after I quit, I noticed that I find it more unattractive.
If you remember my last post with the President Obama cartoon, I talked about the health issues of smoking. I was browsing through the Internet the other day and stumbled across an article that was titled, “Quitting cigarettes increases diabetes risk”. I found this interesting because I didn’t think that quitting smoking had any negative effects. The first line of the article says, ‘FOR smokers under pressure to give up in 2010, it will seem like the ultimate excuse: quitting smoking appears to increase the risk of diabetes.’
The study says that smokers are on average 30% more likely than non-smokers to develop type 2 or adult-onset diabetes. Now a 10-year study of 10,892 adults has found that in the first six years after giving up, former smokers are 70% more likely than non-smokers to develop the disease. This doesn’t seem too bad, because the chances of getting diabetes after you quit smoking are still better than that of a smoker.
Hsin-Chieh Yeh and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, found that the risk of diabetes is highest straight after quitting and gradually reduces to that of non-smokers (Annals of Internal Medicine, vol 152, p 10). This is most likely because quitting makes people more likely to put on weight, which is known to increase the risk of diabetes.
I went to go pick up lunch at a local restaurant that I frequent today. I noticed when I pulled up to the restaurant; there was a car-full of middle-aged women (whom I assume were on their lunch break) who were ALL smoking cigarettes before they went inside to eat! This was surprising to me for 2 reasons, one because I don’t really see older women smoking a lot, especially 4 of them in one car. Secondly, when I did smoke, I prefer to have a cigarette after my meal, not before it. This was of course because of recent anti-smoking legislation; smokers (such as the 4 women in the car) have to resort to smoking before and/or after they eat. Even when I did smoke I didn’t find women smoking attractive. But after I quit, I noticed that I find it more unattractive.
If you remember my last post with the President Obama cartoon, I talked about the health issues of smoking. I was browsing through the Internet the other day and stumbled across an article that was titled, “Quitting cigarettes increases diabetes risk”. I found this interesting because I didn’t think that quitting smoking had any negative effects. The first line of the article says, ‘FOR smokers under pressure to give up in 2010, it will seem like the ultimate excuse: quitting smoking appears to increase the risk of diabetes.’
The study says that smokers are on average 30% more likely than non-smokers to develop type 2 or adult-onset diabetes. Now a 10-year study of 10,892 adults has found that in the first six years after giving up, former smokers are 70% more likely than non-smokers to develop the disease. This doesn’t seem too bad, because the chances of getting diabetes after you quit smoking are still better than that of a smoker.
Hsin-Chieh Yeh and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, found that the risk of diabetes is highest straight after quitting and gradually reduces to that of non-smokers (Annals of Internal Medicine, vol 152, p 10). This is most likely because quitting makes people more likely to put on weight, which is known to increase the risk of diabetes.
The results shouldn't discourage people from quitting, but former smokers should gradually increase the amount of exercise they do, suggests Martin Dockrell of the UK anti-smoking charity, ASH. I believe that putting on weight from not smoking is a myth, but regardless, I am still exercising regularly (or trying to).
Citations:
(2010). Quitting cigarettes increases diabetes risk. New Scientist, 205(2742), 6.
Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Englehart, B. (Artist) (2010) Retrieved from
http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/8422b6a2-9226-485a-93c2-
131b84fe9a40.html
Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.
Englehart, B. (Artist) (2010) Retrieved from
http://www.politicalcartoons.com/cartoon/8422b6a2-9226-485a-93c2-
131b84fe9a40.html
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