It Is Never Too Late To Stop Smoking For Your Family

Are You A Smoker?

Are you a smoker? If yes, have you ever considered quitting smoking? If not, do you know what happens to your body in a week or a month or even longer-term after you stop smoking? Maybe you do not care what smoking does to your body, but have you ever been aware of its effects on those people around you? The more you smoke, the more your family is exposed to its dangers. What do you get if you quit smoking? A lot. If you don't even think about yourself, look at the people around you. Read this article and see how quitting smoking can make your family happy.

How Stop Smoking Can Make Your Family Happy

1. Reducing the Risk of Childhood Illness

If you do not already know, children are the most likely to be affected by cigarette smoke. Studies have found that there are many risks faced by children living with smoking parents such as:

• The increased risk of cot death or sudden infants death syndrome (SIDS) 

• High risk of getting respiratory tract infections such as bronchitis and pneumonia

• Smoking slows down the growth of healthy lungs

• Increased risk of ear infections

• Increased risk of coughing and shortness of breath

• Increased risk of children becoming smokers as adults

​These conditions do not only cause problems to the physical health of the child but also their mental health. You may feel that smoking outside of the house can reduce the risk, but in fact, it does not. Studies have shown that nicotine levels in children's hair remain high even when family members smoke outside the house. This is because factors such as open doors or windows and smoke particles on the smoker's clothes still expose the children to threats. ​

2. Ensure Good Baby Growth During Pregnancy

Pregnant women exposed to cigarette smoke are at risk of:

• Giving birth to a premature baby

• Breech pregnancy and delivery

• High risk of surgical or cesarean section

• Unsatisfactory baby’s APGAR score at birth

• Premature rupture of membranes or amniotic fluid

Such situations do not only endanger the life of the unborn child but also the life of the mother. It is not too late for the husbands to quit smoking now if you love your wife and child.

3. Securing and Maintaining Family Finances

As we know, the price of cigarettes is increasingly getting more expensive. A box of cigarettes will cost you more than RM10. In the current economic downturn, smoking is certainly a financial burden.

By quitting smoking, a smoker can save tens or even hundreds of dollars every month. The extra money can be used to buy family necessities or even be used for investments! Buying cigarettes for RM10 a day is equivalent to RM300 a month or RM3600 a year. If you had invested or saved the money, imagine how much you would already have. You can do the maths yourself.

Of course, your spouse also will be happy when you do not spend the money unnecessarily on cigarettes. A happy wife means a happy life!

4. Improve Your Quality of Life

Families living with smokers are more at risk of getting sick from coughs, asthma, colds and other infections, particularly respiratory tract infections. Smoking also increases the risk of developing lung cancer. Medical care costs are also a financial burden. If you want to take a medical card or buy an insurance plan, the cost of your monthly contribution is higher because you are a smoker.

By quitting smoking, your family is no longer exposed to the dangers of cigarettes. Their health and yours will also improve. The risk of infection and frequency of illness, as well as treatment costs, will also be reduced. As a result, your quality of life will improve. 

5. Improving Husband and Wife Relationships

Besides physical health and your finances. Quitting smoking also improves the quality of marital relationships. Without smoking, husbands spend more time with children and wives rather than smoking with their friends or alone outside the house. A man's libido and sexual health will also get better the longer he stays away from cigarettes.

Many are unaware that the nicotine content in cigarettes can affect a man's fertility. Nicotine can cause blood vessels in the penis to shrink and become clogged, causing difficulty in reaching or maintaining an erection, leading to erectile dysfunction and inevitably affecting the quality of their sex life. Are you dependent on nicotine? Take this quiz to find out!

The quality of this sexual relationship should be maintained by both parties, be it the husband or the wife. The decision to quit smoking can help relationships become more intimate. This relationship is not only important for the satisfaction of the partner but also to ensure the integrity of the household.

6. Setting a Good Example for The Children

“Like father like son", this phrase describes how a father’s attitude can hugely influence their children. If the smoker's child sees and smells cigarettes every day, it would not be surprising if one day he becomes a smoker himself. When that happens, what can a father who also smokes say?

Cigarettes do not only affect their health, but also their education and finances. Although there are young people who smoke that come from non-smoking parents, there is a higher percentage of young smokers that came from smoking households.  

Impact on Passive Smokers

Smokers are divided into two main groups, namely active smokers and passive smokers. Who are these people? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), active smokers are the people who use the cigarettes directly meanwhile passive smokers are the people who inhale the fumes indirectly. If you think smoking is your own business, you are wrong. 

The people at the highest risk of being affected by cigarettes are the smoker's family because they are living with the smoker thus inhaling the smoke particles every day. Imagine inhaling the poisonous smoke every day for years of their lives. 

Scientific studies on passive smokers prove that the health status of this group is very worrying. The effects of cigarettes on passive smokers includes:

• High risk of lung cancer - a person living with an active smoker has a 20-30% risk of getting lung cancer

• High risk of death at a young age

• Increased risk of heart disease by 25-40% - a similar percentage of active smokers

Conclusion

There are various ways to stop smoking. Smoking cessation clinics have been set up by the government to help you and every smoker that is struggling with smoking cessation. You no longer have to worry about nicotine withdrawal hindering you from quitting smoking because a qualified specialist will guide you on the next steps. Your friends might have told you about their sudden smoking cessation experience, and that may have scared you. But don’t quit before you try! Seek help from a doctor or an expert and increase your chances of quitting successfully. The health and well-being of your family members should be your priority. Quit now and give your family the clean air they deserve. 

Thinking of quitting? Consult our doctor for FREE!