Quitting Smoking? Expect a Lot of Failure Before You Succeed

Quitting smoking is so hard that most smokers kick themselves for even starting. Not everyone who smokes enjoys it, as evident by the nearly 7 out of 10 smokers who've said they want to quit completely. While many smokers have switched to e-cigarettes, those people shouldn't be considered nonsmokers. They're still slaves to nicotine. It's just delivered in a less flammable way. But quitting -- as in getting out of nicotine addiction once and for all -- takes way more than a little willpower. A study recently appearing in BMJ Open suggests the number of times it takes to quit smoking for good is much higher that experts once thought. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests 8 to 11 attempts. The American Cancer Society believes 8 to 10. The Australian Cancer Council is less optimistic with 12 to 14 attempts. "Smoking cessation is a difficult and complex process, and smokers use many methods and approaches to achieve cessation," the recent study begins. "Knowing how many quit attempts it takes an average smoker to quit is important as it can frame different narratives about the quitting process." The study by researchers at the University of Toronto suggests it's more likely it'll take a smoker 30 attempts or more to go a full year without any cigarettes. If that's the case, the road to quitting smoking is a long and bumpy one. Factoring in 30 attempts When assessing how many attempts a smoker will traditionally make before they're off the ha...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news