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Great American Smokeout

November 17, 2011 by · Comments Off on Great American Smokeout 

Great American Smokeout, If there was ever a day to quit smoking, today is it. The American Cancer Society is marking the 36th Great American Smokeout on Nov. 17 by encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit. By doing so, the society says, smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life – one that can lead to reducing cancer risk.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S., yet more than 46 million Americans still smoke, the American Cancer Society reports. However, more than half of these smokers have attempted to quit for at least one day in the past year.

Aside from the savings one may reap from quitting — cigarettes in Connecticut wil now run you about $8 per pack — the health incentives are priceless. Diane Frankel Gramelis, the director of education at Milford Hospital, notes:

75 percent of most illness are tobacco related
1 cigarette depletes oxygen to fingers and toes for up to six hours. (What then happens is your body is not working as well as it should)
7,305 — that’s the number of cigerettes one will smoke in one year if they smoke one pack per day
$2,920 — that’s how much you spend each year if you smoke one pack a day at $8 a pop

Quitting smoking, Gramelis says, is “probably the most important thing you can do for yourself.”

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