Are you under the assumption that pollution is a modern day problem? Think again. In ancient times, the Greeks AND the Romans spewed huge amounts of toxins into the air extracting silver from lead. The stench of an abandoned canal in Washington, D.C. clogged with animal carcasses and human waste was so bad it permeated the White House.
More than 70,000 chemical compounds were developed during the second half of the twentieth century. Many are credited with causing cancer in laboratory animals.
So, does this affect the risk of developing cancer, heart disease or stroke beyond age 60? You better believe it does and while there are varied opinions, there are researchers who believe that as much as 25% of all cancers could be prevented if Americans reduces exposure to smog, pesticides, second hand smoke and other hazards that we breathe, drink, eat and absorb into our bodies. While there are many factors that cause cancer, heart disease and stroke that we have no control over such as heredity, our environment is something we can do something about.
It’s a killer – If you are a typical male smoker in your sixties or seventies, you began smoking at age 17 and have smoked about 27 cigarettes a day for 51 years. If you are a woman in the same range, you began smoking at around 24 and have been smoking 20 cigarettes a day for 45 years. And you have probably tried at least once or twice to quit like 80% of people who smoke. Is it too late to quit? Absolutely not. Putting out that last cigarette as late as 60 to 80 can halt many of the worst effects of smoking. Yet 46% of older smokers don’t believe that smoking is that harmful or that quitting at this stage in their life is worthwhile. If you fall into that category consider this:
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Within eight hours of quitting, your pulse rate and blood pressure drop and oxygen levels in your body will rise.
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Within 24 hours of quitting, your risk of a heart attack decreases.
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After one month, your circulation improves, your energy levels surge and your lung function expands by up to 30%.
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After one year, your risk of heart disease is half that of someone who continues to smoke.
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After five years, your risk of having a stroke begins to decline .
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After 10 years, your chances of developing lung cancer are the same as that of someone who has never smoked.
Each time you take a puff you inhale more than 4,700 chemicals that have been shown to have effect throughout your body. Some of the milder effects are accelerated wrinkling of the skin, yellowing of the teeth and fingers and slower healing of wounds.
Here is a list of a few of those chemicals and what their common uses are: read next page
