Comprehensive Joins Kick Butts Day and Supports Quitting Smoking
The team at Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada is committed to helping our community stop smoking. We want people to lead healthier lives while reducing their risk of lung cancer.
Every year we launch the IQuitFor campaign, in collaboration with UNLV that encourages people to quit smoking during Lung Cancer Awareness Month. This March, we’re adding to our efforts by helping spread awareness of National Kick Butts Day.
#KickButtsDay empowers youth to stand out and speak up about smoking. The event is expecting to hold more than 1,000 events in schools and communities across the United States and around the world to help raise awareness. Learn more here.
While treating patients for lung cancer, we’ve learned that many of them started smoking when they were young, and regret first starting to smoke, as well as not quitting while they were younger.
Here are a few reasons why smoking is such an unhealthy activity for those looking for encouragement to not start smoking, or to quit smoking entirely.
- Smoking is Bad for Your Blood
Smoking makes your blood thicker and increases risk of clots, while also increasing blood pressure. It reduces the amount of oxygen rich blood in your body which increases your risk for stroke, heart disease and lung cancers. - Smoking is Bad for Your Stomach
Smoking increases reflux and the odds of getting stomach cancer and/or ulcers. Smoking adds significant risk for developing kidney cancer, as well; with the more you smoke, the greater the risk. - Smoking is Bad for Your Skin
Smoking reduces the amount of oxygen that gets to your skin making it age quickly, while looking grey and dull. The toxins in cigarette smoke also causes cellulite. - Smoking Is Bad for Your Smile and Taste Buds
Smoking causes bad breath and stained teeth, and can also cause gum disease and can damage your sense of taste. - Smoking is Bad for Having Kids
Smoking can cause male impotence and can reduce fertility in women. One study found that smokers were over three times more likely than non-smokers to have taken more than one year to conceive. The study estimated that the fertility of smoking women was 72 percent that of non-smokers.
While that’s some of the bad news about smoking, the good news is that your body can rebound quickly once you quit. Within two years of quitting smoking, risk of stroke is reduced to half that of a non-smoker and within five years it will be the same as a non-smoker. Other risk factors from smoking can reduce over time, as well.
Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada recognizes that quitting smoking can be a difficult process. Young people and people of all ages inspired by Kick Butts Day are encouraged to take advantage of the Nevada Tobacco Quitline’s resources by visiting Nevada Tobacco Quitline or calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669).
