As one ages inevitably changes will take place physically and mentally. However, some of these changes can be minimized if one factor is taken out of the equation, smoking.
Many of you know someone close to you that smokes. More importantly a dear loved one. For me, I personally feel appalled and saddened by the fact that my mother, who’s getting older, decides to continue to smoke after knowing the risks associated with it. “Each year cigarette smoking causes 1 of 5 deaths in the country and an estimated 8.6 million persons have a serious illness attributed to smoking”
The question that often haunts me is what have I not done to convince her to stop? I have even tried the pity stories “Oh Mom, don’t you want to be around for your grandchildren when they graduate college & make families?” “Do you realize that not having you in our lives will bring a lot of emotional pain to us?” “You see what it did with the early death of Dad? What about your parents? They both died as a result of smoking one had heart disease and the other cancer?
There is evidence out there that supports the claims that smoking is a killer. “It harms every part of the body system”
References:
Ferrini, A. F., & Ferrini, R. L. (2008). Health in the Later Years. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
