Here are a few great facts that will help you decide to quit smoking

When you quit:

• Your chances of having a low birth-weight baby drop to normal.

• Your chances of getting cervical cancer is reduced only a few years after you quit.

• Peripheral artery disease is reduced. (Peripheral artery disease is the same thing that happens to your heart, happening in the rest of your body.)
• Your risk of bladder cancer is halved only a few years after quitting.
• Ulcers are much less likely
• Your chances of lung cancer are reduced. After 10 years, it drops to half that of a smoker.

• Your chances of getting chronic pulmonary disease is reduced.

• After just one year, your chances of coronary heart disease is cut in half.

• Your chances of getting various cancers of the throat and mouth will be decreased. In five years, they will be half that of a smoker.

• You'll reduce your risk of stroke. After 5 years, your risk of stroke will be almost the same as that of a non-smoker.

These are great reasons to quit right now!

I know a lot of this stuff happens in the future, but the future is not going to get here unless you quit. A good understanding of the great things that happen to your body when you quit is a very encouraging way to help you get the courage to quit.

Rather than feel guilty about what you're doing to your body and your wallet, now you can quit because of all the good things that are going to happen to you.

Of course, quitting is far from easy. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, for some as addictive as cocaine or heroin.

The first thing to do when you're thinking about really quitting is talk with your doctor. She can recommend programs that have worked for other patients.

Unfortunately, there's no magic bullet. What works for one person might not work for another.

You need to find out about all of the quitting methods, then try what you think will work for you.

If it doesn't work out, though, don't get discouraged! Most smokers who quit have to try at least five times before they find the right method.

If you're interested, I wrote a book about quitting smoking, called The Harold Cole Method. In it I give full instructions for a method my father invented that greatly reduces withdrawal symptoms--in many cases, it avoids them completely. Just click here to read about it. It might change your life!