Insights from the Editor
Quitting for Cash and Your Cat (or Dog)
Even the hardest-core smokers can cite the standard reasons to kick the habit - everything from reducing the risk of cancer and heart disease to improving how you and your clothes smell. But if those reasons aren't sufficient for you or someone you know, recent studies offer a few other possibilities worth considering.
Recover more easily from surgery.
A Swedish study found that smokers undergoing operations who gave up cigarettes for at least three weeks before surgery and four weeks afterward had half as many complications as those who continued to smoke. The finding reflects what doctors already know: Smokers tend to fare worse after surgery than non-smokers. About one-third of the quitters were still smoke free after one year, suggesting that surgery may be the impetus some of us need to give up smoking for good.
Protect your pet's health.
Did you ever consider the effects of smoking on your pet? Many people don't realize that second-hand smoke can be just as dangerous for our four-legged friends as it is for us, increasing their risk of allergies, cancer, and respiratory diseases. When informed of this in a recent survey, nearly one in three smokers said they would be willing to quit for their furry companions. So if you're an animal lover and can't or won't quit for your own sake, do it for Fido's.
Save money.
In this tough economy, we're all looking for ways to keep more cash in our pockets. And the chance to earn extra dollars can be a powerful incentive to quit, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The research involved nearly 900 workers at General Electric, some of whom were offered up to $750 in cash -- $100 for completing a smoking cessation class, $250 for quitting for 6 months, and $400 more for sticking it out for 12 months. A comparison group of smokers received only information about quitting. After a year, those in the cash-earning group were three times more likely to be smoke free.
If you aren't lucky enough to have an employer this generous, try paying yourself. Every week, take the money you would have blown on cigarettes and hand it over to a trusted friend or relative. Have that person put it in the bank and then "pay" you periodically - say, after three months, six months, and a year of remaining smoke free. (If you fall off the wagon, they get to keep the money or donate it to charity.) You'll be surprised at how quickly the savings add up. A pack-a-day smoker, for example, can save $1800 a year. To find out how much cash you can "earn," use our smoking cost calculator. And to get the scoop on the latest stop-smoking treatments, check out this segment with our pharmacist Doug White.
About the Author
Robert J. Davis, PhD is President and Editor-in-Chief of Everwell.
An award-winning health journalist whose work has appeared on CNN, PBS, WebMD and in The Wall Street Journal, he is the author of The Healthy Skeptic: Cutting Through the Hype About Your Health. He also teaches at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health.
Davis holds a PhD in health policy from Brandeis University, where he was a Pew Fellow, a master’s degree in public health from Emory, and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University.
