How long do you have to stick to not smoking to be considered successful?

"The doctor said you should quit smoking, why do you still smoke?"

"I also want to quit, but I don't smoke all over my body!"

On the old Li's side, this conversation is often staged, the old Li is an old smoker, and his family advised him to quit smoking, the old Li listened to the advice and try to quit smoking, but it did not take long to resume smoking, this quit smoking persisted for two months, in a mahjong table lost guard. The card player handed Lao Li a cigarette, and he caught it by magic. The family sighs and sighs as they know that the old Lee failed to quit smoking, the old Lee himself is also very upset, how in the end to quit this smoke ah?

Smoking can be addictive, what addiction?

The harm of cigarettes we all know, but smokers in hands of the cigarette is always put down, in fact, they also have a hard time saying that the pain of quitting smoking is not known to people who do not smoke, and want to quit smoking, we must first understand the face of the enemy in the end where the power. What is the so-called addiction to smoking in the end?

addiction to smoking is divided into two main levels, one related to nicotine, and the other is heart addiction.

Nicotine addiction: when smoking, the nicotine in the cigarette will enter the bloodstream through the lungs, and when this blood comes to the brain, the nicotine in it will bind to receptors in the brain and undergo a chemical reaction that will stimulate the brain and produce a feeling of euphoria. Although the body metabolizes the nicotine in cigarettes, the brain "misses" it when there is no nicotine, signaling to the smoker that he or she needs to smoke, and if this request is not met, a series of psychological and emotional reactions will occur, such as irritability, irritability, anxiety, and inability to concentrate, at which point The smoker's craving for cigarettes will become stronger and harder to resist, and he or she will usually surrender and choose to smoke again.

In addition to nicotine addiction, another addiction is easy to ignore heart addiction, smokers usually have their smoking habits, such as smoking a cigarette after waking up, one after dinner, one when stressed, and one when bored, these habits after years of development into a fixed habit, but also formed a psychological dependence.

In the minds of most quitters, there is often a reaction after quitting smoking: if you don't have a cigarette after a meal, you will feel uncomfortable and feel that you didn't eat the meal well; when you are stressed at work and don't have a cigarette, then your emotions may become irritable and there is no way to think quietly. These are all heart addictions at work, and heart addiction is very difficult to fight, but also is often ignored by quitters and family members, want to overcome it, is never one or two determination can do.

If you want to quit smoking, first tell yourself how many benefits there are to quitting

As mentioned earlier, the difficulty of quitting smoking is mainly related to the two major roadblocks of nicotine addiction and heart addiction. To get rid of their control, you need to have strong support, and this support needs strong inner support in addition to the people around you, and you must identify with the benefits of quitting smoking from your heart to be able to stick with it. So let's take a look at the benefits of quitting smoking.

1. Reduce fatigue and shortness of breath

For smokers over the age of 50, the harm of cigarettes is often more, they often have shortness of breath, and coughing symptoms, but also often have fatigue, long-term development, it will become slow obstructive pulmonary.

This is a disease with a high mortality rate, and quitting smoking can slow down or even reverse this process. Many elderly people will find that their shortness of breath and coughing symptoms are reduced or disappear after quitting smoking, and their bodies become lighter.

2. Reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease

It is well known that smokers have a high chance of having a heart attack and a high risk of developing various cardiovascular diseases, and the risk of dying after the disease is equally high. The proportion of older people who died after suffering a stroke is almost double that of non-smokers. These high-risk diseases as long as the same, for themselves and their families, are a great blow, want to stay away from them the first thing you can do is to quit smoking, it can be said that quitting smoking is a good way to prolong life.

3. Changes in the body after quitting smoking

The body gives positive feedback at each stage of quitting, and if you know this feedback, it is equivalent to being encouraged at all times. Think about it, if you have a very positive result for every period that you persist, then the determination to quit smoking will be stronger.

When quitting smoking is only 20 minutes old, your body already has feedback, and by this time your body's blood pressure, which has fluctuated and risen due to smoking, will have steadily decreased and your racing heart rate will have gradually calmed down.

After 12 hours of quitting, the amount of carbon monoxide that has accumulated in your body as a result of smoking decreases significantly, and the oxygen level increases.

After 2 weeks of quitting, the heart's pumping function is restored and lung function is significantly improved, so the smoker feels relaxed and can feel the changes in his or her body.

When a smoker has quit smoking for more than 5 years, the risk of developing esophageal and oral cancer is reduced by 50%.

How older people should quit smoking

Unlike young people, many older people have been smoking for a long time and it is more difficult to quit, so quitting smoking requires both determination and readiness for a long-term battle.

First of all, the best motivation to quit smoking comes from hospital checkups. Many successful cases of quitting smoking have the characteristic that they quit smoking immediately after going to the hospital when they were sick. These diseases are related to heart and respiratory diseases. There are many harmful effects of smoking, but there are almost none that are immediately apparent, which makes the smoker a fluke, and when these unfavorable factors accumulate together after the outbreak, it often gives a heavy blow, in front of such violent consequences, the determination of the quitter to quit smoking will be very sufficient.

Of course, this is not a suggestion to go to the hospital for a checkup when you have symptoms, but I hope that you will go to the hospital for a checkup when you are not confident enough to quit smoking and listen to the diagnosis and judgment of the future given by the doctor in person. In the face of health and life, we can often be more determined in our choice to quit smoking. You may go into the hospital one second full of concern and come out with a decision to treat your body well. Instead of making countless excuses for smoking, you should find ways to give yourself enough motivation.

When you have enough inner motivation, remember to set small goals for yourself. It is relatively difficult for older people to quit smoking, so it is easy to fail to quit right away, so you can set small goals for the short term, such as reducing your smoking by half in the first week, continuing to reduce by half the next week, and so on. Or set a time of day when you can only smoke, and this amount of smoking will be determined by the amount you smoke daily. But remember one guideline is that all rules set should be strictly followed, and it is best to get family members to help monitor them.

After starting to quit smoking, it is also very important to arrange a good diet. Evidence shows that a person's desire to smoke increases when he or she is hungry, and if the diet is not arranged properly during the process of quitting smoking, it will increase the chances of relapse, so having a full stomach is a very important part of quitting smoking successfully.

A low-calorie diet (e.g., vegetables) is more likely to lead to increased satiety and decreased smoking cravings when quitting than when reducing food intake [1]. At the same time, the intake of high-calorie foods should be reduced when quitting smoking, and the craving for smoking should be replaced by low-energy foods as much as possible to avoid dieting.

Throughout the process of quitting smoking, it is recommended that older adults participate in more exercise because some people experience weight gain when they quit smoking, so physical activity is important. Also when there is emotional irritation, you can go out for a walk and do some exercise. Some studies have shown that regular exercise (aerobic or strength training) during smoking cessation can help reduce cravings for cigarettes and help with weight control and emotional stability [2]. It is very helpful to pick an exercise that you enjoy while trying to quit smoking.

Other people's lack of success in quitting smoking is related to the influence of the people around them. Like the old man in the previous article, he had already quit smoking for a few days, but once his friend handed him a cigarette, he took it and lost his previous work. In the most difficult days of quitting smoking, you can choose to spend time with non-smoking friends, there is no smoking environment and taste, and the desire for cigarettes will be less.

When quitting smoking has an initial effect, you can be with friends who smoke, but when they persuade you to smoke, be firm in your beliefs, know how to refuse, and tell your friends that you have quit smoking and do not hand them cigarettes again. After two or three times, the other party will not invite you to smoke again.

As mentioned above, when quitting smoking, because of nicotine addiction and heart addiction, quitters will become irritable and irritable, at this time, family members' understanding and guidance become especially important. Don't let them feel that quitting smoking is a lonely thing.

Finally, as a doctor, I would like to say that there is no time to quit smoking, no matter how many years of smoking, as long as you start to quit now, it is good for your health, and the longer you smoke, the more "benefits" your body will get after quitting, so here is a call to the majority of older people, to live a happy old age, throw away the cigarettes in your hands, from The longer you smoke, the more "benefits" you will get.