Stay off the smokes for a day

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Website screenshot

Published Nov 13, 2013

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Durban - Be cool – don your shades and quit smoking for one day, on Thursday November 14.

This is what the cancer information hub, Be Cancer Aware, is urging for its second annual “Too Cool to Smoke” day.

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month and Be Cancer Aware says there is less awareness of lung cancer than of many other cancers. Lung cancer can be difficult to treat because most of the symptoms are not visible until the disease has progressed.

By the time the cancer is found, it is often too late to treat effectively and many patients have poor survival outcomes.

By quitting even for a day, smokers will be taking a step towards reducing cancer risk. Within 20 minutes of quitting, blood pressure returns to normal, and within eight hours, the carbon monoxide level in the blood drops.

After 48 hours, the ability to smell and taste is improved. From two weeks to three months after quitting, lung function increases.

Non-smokers can also get involved and help promote the cause by donning their shades to work on Thursday and showing the world that they are “too cool to smoke”.

They can also upload their photos to the Be Cancer Aware Facebook page. Visit www.becanceraware.co.za – Daily News

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