I've been smoking about 3-4 cigarettes a day for the last 6 months or so and as it is right now I spend a good 16 hours a week exercising - I've always known that cigarette smoke blackens your lungs and reduces their capacity. Is this damage permanent or would my lungs heal themselves over time if I were to quit?

 

Lungs have the remarkable ability to heal themselves. However, people do suffer from lung disease. Many people start smoking while they're young and figure they will quit before they go "too far." Everybody is different and it's truely a game of Russian Roulette!

STOP NOW!

Take care of yourself! Nobody else will.

 

Your lungs can heal themselves, but every cigarette you smoke increases your chances of health problems in the future. Nicotine is very addictive so you should quit as soon as possible before you start smoking more and more every day.

 

I found some interesting facts on this site about tobacco.

http://www.erowid.org/plants/tobacco/tobacco.shtml

 

I'm trying to gradually reduce the amount I smoke as time goes on but it's difficult to stay within my limits... Any suggestions?

Also - are menthol cigarettes more harmful than regular ones? I've heard they damage your sperm count among other things.

 

yes erowid.org is everythingf you need to know guys, please refer to that link for literally everything you need to know about the effects of tobacco or any other plant for that matter

 

go talk to your family doc, Lee. There's some meds that can help you quit (and more importantly stay off) more effectively.

 

(and my plug)

Believe it or not: Cig can also negatively affect the visual system.

 

Lee355,

Don't worry, your lungs will gradually heal after you quit. At this point, though, I doubt they're even really damaged. 4 cigarettes a day isn't very much, and 6 months isn't very long.

I smoked Reds for 5 years at a rate of about a half pack to a full pack a day (which actually isn't that long or that much, relatively speaking), and quit about 2 years ago. At this stage, my advice for quitting is to do it cold turkey. In my opinion, that's by far the easiest way, at least for people who haven't been smoking that long. If you've been smoking all your life, then cold turkey is tough, but if you've just been smoking regularly for 6 months and only have 4 cigarettes a day, then I think cold turkey is the best option.

The method of gradually cutting down didn't work for me, and it didn't work for anyone else I knew. Go cold turkey. The first 3-4 days or so will suck, and you'll probably get some intense cravings, but after that, the cravings will start to taper down. After about a week and a half, it'll be very easy to turn down cigarettes. That's how it turned out for me. Oh yeah, and if the cravings get really bad, smoke some weed. =)

By the way, I've also found that while quitting, it's important not to put too much pressure on yourself. That creates anxiety and can backfire on you. For me, I kept it realistic and didn't foolishly tell myself that I'd never smoke another cigarette. My goal was to kick the addiction and stop the regular smoking, which I was successful at. Now, I don't smoke regularly, and I usually turn down cigarettes that are offered to me, but I still smoke every once in a while, especially after drinking lots of alcohol. I think this mentality actually worked to my advantage by putting less pressure on me, thereby facilitating my stoppage of regular smoking. Remember, despite what the mass media would have you believe, cigarettes are not the Devil (there are far more dangerous things out there that are more socially accepted than cigarettes). But anything in large quantities can be harmful, and it's the regular consumption of large quantities of cigarettes that's bad for you.

 

like what? It is the powerful addictive nature of cigarettes that make them so dangerous. Along with becoming overweight which leads to diabetes(type-II) I can't think of a worse thing you can do to yourself or that will cause you more health problems in the future.

Lee I would say start with the # you smoke now and smoke 1 less a day. If you don't quit, its not if they kill you its when. Sorry I don't mean to be so preachy, just quit...do it for yourself