Quit Smoking Before Its Too Late

More reason you need to stop or quit smoking. You will most likely have lung cancer which is pretty common for smokers, wheezing, hacking or dying early. Other compelling reasons you need to quit smoking are:

1. Blindness- Smokers are four times more likely to become blind because of age-related muscular degeneration than those who’ve never smoked. This condition is severe and progressive, and you’ll go blind because you can’t use the part of your retina that allows for “straight-ahead” activities - such as reading, sewing, and even driving. Dr. Simon P. Kelly, an ophthalmic surgeon with Bolton Hospitals in the U.K., says one out of every four cases of blindness caused by muscular degeneration can be directly linked to current or past exposure to cigarettes.

2. Mom's don't kill your baby- Moms who smoke DOUBLE the risk of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS. It gets worse. Researchers in Europe examined nearly a thousand cases of SIDS and they found that less than half of all deaths were attributed to infants sleeping on their stomachs or sides, as is widely thought to be the case. In fact, about 16% were linked to bed sharing – and this was particularly risky when the mother smoked. All in all, maternal smoking alone DOUBLES the SIDS risk, but the risk was 17 times greater for babies who shared a bed with mothers who smoked.

3. Alzheimer's Disease. As people age, the rate of mental decline is up to five times faster in smokers than in nonsmokers. Dr. A. Ott, a medical microbiologist with Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, says smoking puts into effect a vicious cycle of artery damage, clotting and increased risk of stroke – which causes mental decline. Bottom line: Cigarettes are harmful to the brain.

I got these from Web MD and through DJ Tesh on Kiss FM.