Plan now for a smoke-free New Year

We all joke about New Year's resolutions and our varying success -- usually, unvarying failure -- in keeping them over the course of a year.

When Jan. 1, 2014, comes around in a couple of weeks, however, there's one resolution we should take seriously if we haven't yet kicked the smoking habit.

An estimated 23 percent of the adult population uses tobacco in some form, equating to more than 40 million people, half of which will die from a tobacco-related illness.

We're sure most of the smokers know the facts, but here are some reminders:

Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,800 chemicals, 70 old them known to cause cancer. Smoking causes more than 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and 80 to 90 percent of COPD deaths. For every death caused by smoking, more than 20 others are affected with some sort of illness. Every day, 1,200 people die from a smoking-related illness.

Those illnesses include emphysema, chronic bronchitis, coronary artery disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, leukemia, cataracts, pneumonia, periodontitis, and cancers of the throat, bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, kidney, cervix, stomach, and pancreas.

Smoking also causes slow wound healing, infertility and peptic ulcer disease as well as premature births to pregnant smoking mothers and many other ill effects.

Rick Morris, who quit smoking as part of the CNN Fit Nation Triathlon Challenge on an episode of "Sanjay Gupta, M.D.," noted other unexpected benefits, such as no more chronic cough, losing the "smoker" smell, no more need to cleaning up cigarette butts, more productivity, better sense of taste, enjoying non-smoking accommodations, better complexion and physical appearance, whiter teeth and cleaner contact lenses.

If those facts aren't enough, how about financial considerations?

Morris estimated he could save $6 a day for a pack of cigarettes, multiplied by 365 days a year, or $122,000 over then next 56 years, when he would turn 100. If prices continued to go up, he wrote, that could easily turn to a half-million dollars.

If you're convinced, Community Hospital in McCook can help. It's offering group tobacco cessation services for the public in January. The classes consist of six one-hour small group sessions Jan. 6, through Feb. 10.

All classes are on Mondays from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Community Hospital's Prairie View B meeting room. Cost of the program is $30, which covers the cost of materials. Space is limited, so call Respiratory Therapy at 308-344-8387 by Monday, Dec. 30 to register. Registration can also be made on Community Hospital's website at http://chmccook.org/classes/tobacco-cessation-class.