Why Should You Quit Smoking in your Senior Years?

They say that one should spend their golden years living their life how they want to. However, every action comes with consequences- the good the bad, and the ugly. If you’ve been a smoker all your life or want to try smoking in your senior years, here’s what you need to know.

Smoking in Seniority

According to recent estimates by the Centers for Diseases Control (CDC), about 9% of Americans aged 65 and older are smokers. This startling revelation goes on to show that many seniors have, in fact, been smokers their entire adult lives.

Smoking is one of the leading causes of a wide array of conditions. Most lung cancers and heart diseases are the direct results of smoking more than 5 cigarettes a day. Frequent tobacco consumption contributes to approximately 5 million deaths per year. This means that one in five deaths each year is caused due to smoking.

Your body and mind may already be feeling the effects of the aging way before you enter your golden years. Muscles start to lose their elasticity, becoming stiff and resulting in pain. Your sleeping patterns and moods are likely to change and you may start to forget things.

Combine the effect of aging with the harmful impact of smoking and you have a recipe for disaster. Smoking will end up clogging your arteries and restricting the flow of blood. This can make you susceptible to heart attacks and other coronary heart diseases. For these reasons, it is highly recommended that you quit smoking altogether as you approach your senior years.

How to Quit Smoking?

Once you have realized the effects of smoking, the next logical step would be to bid farewell to this habit and look for healthier alternatives. But is it possible to give up on a lifelong bad habit? The answer is yes! Here are a few ways to start.

Limit First

Going smoke-free is not easy. If you decide to quit smoking abruptly, you won’t be doing yourself any favor. This is because the craving for cigarettes will return stronger than before and force you to puff more cigarettes than ever.

The key is to be consistent, and to that, you need to start from the basics. Try to limit your cigarettes first. Say, if you’re smoking ten cigarettes a day, try cutting them down to eight for the first few weeks- then six, four, two, and finally zero.

Alternatives

Once you’ve let go of smoking, your body will need its daily dose of nicotine. So when the cigarette craving starts to build up, consider using nicotine patches or consuming nicotine candies. This is a better alternative to smoking. For lasting results and to permanently overcome addiction, include exercise, yoga, or daily walk in your routine.

Get Help

If you feel like it’s impossible to give up on smoking, you should consider getting professional help. There are various programs and support groups that can help. You can even check out Home Care Green Valley which can assist you in quitting smoking and adopting a healthy lifestyle.