London - Smoking can cause cancer as well as a number of health problems that limit life expectancy, but it seems this isn’t enough to make people quit.
Instead, improving their appearance, performance in bed and ability to conceive are much better incentives to make addicts quit, according to new research.
A British online quit smoking resource, quitfullstop.co.uk, polled 2 000 of its members (an even split of men and women) and discovered that for both sexes, reversing the signs of ageing was a major concern.
About 40 percent of the women admitted they were quitting for fears that long-term smoking would damage their skin and cause premature ageing.
Meanwhile, 55 percent of men had given up smoking to either reverse or prevent them looking older than their years.
They are right to be alarmed about the effects smoking can have on their appearance.
A spokesman from quitfullstop.co.uk said: “Smoking can cause facial wrinkles because it ages the skin by eating away at proteins, thereby restricting blood flow. This results in dry, leathery and wrinkled skin.”
Smoking is also thought to reduce the skin’s elasticity by causing the breakdown of collagen and hindering collagen production.
About 25 percent of men said they gave up smoking after being diagnosed with some form of erectile dysfunction.
Nicotine restricts blood flow in the body, which would explain why the smokers were struggling to perform in the bedroom. Not only can smoking affect your sex life, it can also be detrimental to a couple’s chance of conceiving.
The spokesman explained: “Studies have shown that quitting smoking can increase a couple’s chances of conceiving. This is due to changes that happen in the womb and improved mobility of sperm.”
For this reason, 45 percent of women and 10 percent of the men wanted to quit. – Lucy Waterlow, Daily Mail
Why people smoke
Men smoke for fun, while women smoke to calm their nerves, a survey has revealed.
The majority of male smokers – 56 percent – smoke most when they are out with friends, compared to 48 percent of women, suggesting that smoking is more socially acceptable for men. The research also found that 33 percent of female smokers smoke the most when they are stressed.
It also found that 55 percent of smokers believe that they became addicted to the psychological habits associated with smoking before they became addicted to the nicotine.
Two-thirds of female smokers and 54 percent of male smokers have tried to quit up to six times.
Jo Hemmings, a behavioural psychologist, said: “This divided behaviour suggests that smoking is seen as more socially acceptable for men.
“This is surprising, particularly in the modern day, and could be indicative that women potentially attribute an element of shame to their smoking behaviour.” – Emma Innes, Daily Mail
Why you should quit
After 20 minutes: Blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal.
24 hours: Carbon monoxide and nicotine no longer remain in the system.
48 hours: Sense of taste and smell improves.
One month: Skin texture and colour improves.
One year: Risk of heart attack reduces by half compared to that of a smoker.
10 years: Risk of lung cancer drops to half compared to that of a smoker.
15 years: Risk of heart attack equal to someone who has never smoked.