Dear Friend,
Welcome to Quit Cigarettes and congratulation on taking the first step to becoming a non-smoker. The Quit Cigarettes site was designed with two function in mind, first is to  show you how destructive cigarettes are to you!, and second is to inform you of the program available today to help you kick the smoking habit FOREVER!

Heart Disease

• Every 34 seconds a  person in the United States dies from heart disease.
• More than 2,500 Americans die from heart disease each day.
• Every 20 seconds, a person in the United States has a heart attack.
• At least 250,000 people die of heart attacks each year before they reach a hospital.
• Studies show that under-educated people are more likely to suffer heart attacks.
• The countries with the highest death rates from heart disease are the Soviet Union, Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. The countries with the lowest are Japan, France, Spain, Switzerland, and Canada.
• Almost 6 million hospitalizations each year (in the United States) are due to cardiovascular disease.
• Since 1900, Cardio Vascular Disease has been the number 1 killer in the United States for every year but 1918.
• Every 33 seconds, a person dies from Cardio Vascular Disease in the United States.
• Men suffer heart attacks about 10 years earlier in life than women do.

Heart Disease and Smoking
Research has proved that smoking cigarettes is a leading cause and accelerator of heart disease.  Smoking causes or accelerates heart disease by many different mechanisms. Smoking:

• speeds up progression of atherosclerosis
• alters lipid profile, with more LDL and less HDL
• increases heart muscle oxygen demand by 10%
• reduces coronary artery blood flow due to adrenaline release
• diminishes coronary collateral flow reserve
• lowers threshold for angina pain
• interferes with efficacy of medication designed to prevent angina
• raises blood levels of fibrinogen
• alters the clotting mechanism with aggregation of blood platelets
• causes endothelial cell dysfunction, with reduced ability to produce chemicals that dilate the arteries

Interesting Facts About Heart Disease

• Male pattern baldness, hair in the ear canals, and creased earlobes are associated with a higher risk for heart disease in white males.
• Research indicates that genetics are involved in the development of atherosclerosis.
• Men who were clinically depressed had a greater risk for heart disease and heart attack than men who were not depressed.
• Abnormally high blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine are strongly linked to an increased risk of coronary artery disease and stroke.
• People who are sedentary are almost twice as likely to suffer heart attacks as are people who exersice regularly.
• African American women have the highest risk for death from heart disease.
• People who eat beans at least four times a week have a lower level of heart disease (19% lower) than people who eat beans less than once a week.