Exercise helps smokers to quit smoking, to remain smoke-free and to reduce the risk of death

[onehandle]

Source: EurekAlert

Dubai (20 April 2012): Exercise may help smokers to quit and remain smokefree, according to new data presented today at the World Congress of Cardiology. Moreover, exercise increases life expectancy in smokers and non-smokers alike.

The study of 434,190 people who went through medical examination program at a private fee-paying company between 1996 and 2008 in Taiwan revealed that active smokers (those engaged in at least moderate activity) were 55 per cent more likely to quit smoking that those that were inactive. Furthermore, these active smokers were 43 per cent less likely to relapse than smokers that were inactive.

Physical activity among these subjects was also shown to increase life expectancy, even among smokers. Smokers that participated in physical activity had an increased life expectancy of 3.7 years and a reduction in all-cause mortality of 23 per cent – equivalent to levels achieved by ex-smokers with low activity levels. The results also demonstrated that active ex-smokers increased their life expectancy by 5.6 years and reduced their all-cause mortality by 43 per cent – equivalent to the levels seen in inactive non-smokers.

"Exercise can help smokers to quit and quitting smoking has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of developing CVD and that must be the goal of all smokers," said Dr. C.P. Wen, National Health Research Institute, Taiwan. "If smokers can continue to exercise, not only they can increase the quit rate, but also they can reduce their mortality for all cause and for CVD in the long run."

Read more: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-04/whf-ehs041612.php

[Arugula Latte]

1. Exercise is essential for almost all aspects of health.

Being sedentary is not the norm and contradicts eons of evolution. Keep moving, people.

[DesertRat]

2. Amen to that!

[Codeine]

3. I've watched an enormous change in every aspect of my fiance's health

since she started going to the gym several times a week. She sleeps better (and far less), has more energy, no longer experiences depression, and moves more rapidly and comfortably wherever she goes.

Laziness puts people into early graves.

[Arugula Latte]

7. That's great.

Exercise really can be a miracle "drug."

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. Started running two years ago

Quit smoking cold turkey about four months ago. No gum, no patch, no drugs - just threw a half pack in the garbage one morning and haven't had one since. We'll see how it goes but it was actually kinda easy. I run four or five times a week now, easy.

Smoked 22 1/2 years.

Biggest revelation: man, you can smell the smokers coming. I can identify smokers in the supermarket by scent alone. It's like the Roddy Piper sunglasses in "Them." Now, I'm not saying that it smells bad, but it certainly is distinct. Wow.

[Arugula Latte]

5. Yes indeed.

I've almost been bowled over a few times by the cigarette fumes coming off people's clothes and hair, passing in store aisles and the like. Once we had a repair guy in the house for about 20 minutes and he did not smoke inside, but he just reeked of smoke and the smell traveled throughout the house. We had to open up lots of windows to get rid of the odor after he left. It's amazingly powerful.

[Skittles]

14. think N.O.P.E., a_m

NOT ONE PUFF EVER!!!!

[mactime]

6. It worked for me

Increasing my excise while quitting definitely helped me.

[gratuitous]

8. Good advice for anyone

But yeah, kicking nicotine is in the major leagues of drug addiction. Try every trick you can think of, every trick friends or other former smokers suggest. If one trick doesn't work, try another. Don't beat yourself up if you "fail." The only true failure is to give up on quitting. If you can't run a marathon today, walk to the end of the driveway and back if that's all you can do. Then walk to the end of the block. Then around the block.

You can do it!

[Skittles]

16. yup

took me about seven attempts - after each "failure" I'd tell my nicotine money YOU WON THIS BATTLE BUT I WILL WIN THE WAR!!! And I finally did! I found it helped to Google QUIT SMOKING and read, read READ the stories. Yes INDEED.

[Speck Tater]

9. What really worked for me was...

...my wife was diagnosed with lung cancer. That very day I quit, and haven't smoked in the 4 years since.
She continued to smoke and died of her lung cancer 2 years later.

To be a smoker requires that you lie to yourself. Constantly. You have to keep telling yourself that cancer is not real and that it won't happen to you. It is real. It does happen.

[Skittles]

15. so sorry, Speck Tater

that's a hard lesson to learn

[Kingofalldems]

10. I had a massive heart attack and luckily survived

That was enough incentive, plus the 5 days in the hospital with no access was a huge help. Been in a cardio rehab exercise program ever since. Don't miss them.

[cigsandcoffee]

11. Well, duh. n/t

[K8-EEE]

12. I was not successful quitting until I took up swimming as a sort of a therapy

You can't smoke when you're wet! I belonged to the Y and after work when I would be DYING for a cig, I would stop off and jump in the pool. Every day I didn't smoke, I could get across faster and without taking so many breaths. I was 25 and could not get across without coming up for air until a month after quitting -- that really illustrated to me how the cigs were affecting my health and how not smoking was benefitting my health.

After dinner cig jones-ing was more water therapy (showers!) with aroma therapy - I used the cig money to buy delicious smelling stuff and didn't want to mess up my expensively perfumed self by smoking. I had my furniture steamed - after quitting I noticed the stale tobacco smell.

This was 25 years ago and I really doubt I would still be hiking and swimming today at 50+ y/o if I had continued my love affair with cigarettes. Please don't be disappointed if you aren't successful, just keep trying and if you need extra incentive -- the GOP gets the big tobacco bucks, they want you to smoke! Don't do it!

[bikebloke]

13. My father thought if he exercised, he could keep smoking.

It didn't work. His life span wasn't any different from his siblings who also smoked and didn't exercise.