Healthy Living
General Information | Dont' Smoke | Eat Right | Exercise | Avoid Alcohol | Practice Sun Safety
Don’t Smoke
The single most preventable cause of death in the U.S. is tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking. The only advice about tobacco products is DO NOT SMOKE OR USE ANY FORM OF SMOKELESS TOBACCO. Most tobacco users start using before they finish high school. Statistics show that one-third of the one million teens who start smoking each year will die from their addiction. So if you don’t smoke, don’t start and if you do smoke, quit.
Also, avoid second-hand tobacco smoke. Second-hand smoke is a combination of the smoke that is released from the end of a lit cigarette and the exhaled smoke. It’s the No. 1 preventable risk factor for serious and chronic disease in nonsmokers in our country. Nonsmokers who live or work with smokers experience a 30 to 50 percent elevated risk for lung cancer. Your treatment may already put you at increased risk of lung problems (see Late-Effects Assessment). Smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke will only add to these problems.
Because tobacco is addictive, quitting can be difficult. Studies show that smokers who quit before age 50 will cut their risk of dying in half over the next five years compared with those who continue to smoke.
There are programs to help you stop smoking. For more information about how to quit, call the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at 1-800-CDC-1311 or the National Cancer Institute at 1-877-448-7848. Also, refer to the resource links on this site for additional smoking-cessation programs.