For those who have been thinking about quitting smoking, The Great American Smokeout is a perfect time to get started, and smoking cessation programs, like Healthways QuitNet, are there to support and motivate throughout this process.

(PRWEB) November 14, 2007 -- This Thursday, Nov. 15, is The Great American Smokeout – a day smokers are encouraged to give up smoking for 24 hours in the hope that realizing this small goal will help enable them to quit for good. Smoking has been recognized as the single most preventable cause of premature death in America – tobacco use is responsible for more than 440,000 deaths in the US each year, and costs the nation more than $75 billion in direct medical expenses and $82 billion in lost productivity.


For those who have been thinking about quitting smoking, The Great American Smokeout is a perfect time to get started, and smoking cessation programs, like Healthways QuitNet, are there to support and motivate throughout this process. QuitNet’s website (www.quitnet.com) is host to a thriving online community of thousands of smokers and ex-smokers who support each other with practical tips and celebrations of milestones.

After only one day without smoking, there are already immediate health benefits:
•    Just 20 minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure and pulse rate drops to nearly the level it was before that cigarette, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increases.
•    8 hours after your last cigarette, carbon monoxide levels in your blood drops to normal and the oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.
•    24 hours after your last cigarette, your chance of a heart attack decreases.

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