amy_patterson

Before last Wednesday I had no intention of quitting, but then I discovered that I’m pregnant. Even then, it’s amazing how nicotine warped my mind, suppressing the nagging voice that I’m hurting myself (and now my baby) and shouldn’t smoke.

I gave quitting another try this weekend, and I’m proud to report that I haven’t smoked a cigarette since Friday night. The weekend was hell, but I’m feeling better now (and feeling stupid for the time I spent as a smoker).

I’d like to read the original study, but I found this article quite interesting:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61981-2004Jun22.html

Especially this part:
“The study also found, however, that kicking the cigarette habit had equally dramatic effects. He found, for instance, that someone who stops smoking by age 30 has the same average life expectancy as a nonsmoker, and someone who stops at 50 will lose four, rather than 10, years of life.”

It sounds too good to be true that I can enjoy smoking for 10 years and still be likely to live as long as if I hadn’t smoked at all. I’ll have to wait and see how I feel about quitting when I’m 30.

This article seems to indicate that even people who smoke 1-4 cigarettes a day significantly increase their chances of dying from certain diseases:
http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/14/5/315

Even though I smoke more than this, this isn’t really motivating me to quit (though I imagine my mother’s nagging might get me to cut down.)