Glamour - Quit Smoking!!

All information taken directly from Glamour's August 2007 issue.
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Lung cancer kills more women than any other cancer, and no, you don't have to smoke to get it.

Deaths from breast cancer are at their lowest point in a decade. New tests are making ovarian cancer easier to spot. But one cancer - lung cancer - seems immune to our best attempts to defeat it. The top cancer killer of women, it will take the lives of approximately 70,000 women this year. Other facts that might astound you:

1. Lung cancer is the only major cancer that's not on the decline in women.
2. More nonsmoking women are getting the disease than ever before.
3. Women are more susceptible to lung cancer than men.

Lung cancer kills more women than breast, ovarian and uterine cancers combined.

Female smokers are about 50 percent more likely to get lung cancer than male puffers - and female nonsmokers have more than double the risk of male nonsmokers. "Dose for dose, women may be more susceptible to the carcinogens in cigarettes than men," says Kathy Albain, M.D., director of the thoracic oncology program at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.



SMOKERS:
Check out the quit strategies that have worked for women like you.

• Cut back slowly. Mariesa Woodring, 35, of Birmingham, Alabama, kicked her 18-year habit by gradually eliminating places where she allowed herself to puff. "One week, I'd stop smoking in front of the TV," she says. "The next, I'd stop smoking in the car. That way, you never tell yourself you have to smoke less, you just make it inconvenient."
• Try medication. Studies find that smokers who take antidepressants like bupropion (Zyban) are almost twice as successful at quitting as smokers who don't. A new antismoking drug called varenicline (Chantix) may be even more effective, doctors say. (Although both medications have possible side effects like nausea and trouble sleeping.)
• Don't let weight worries stop you. Women often fear that they'll pack on 10 or 20 pounds if they put down the cigarettes, but the fact is, 20 percent of women who quit don't gain any weight - and those who do put on an average of just five pounds, according to the National Women's Health Information Center. "Being a few pounds heavier is worth saving your life," says Elise Cook, M.D., assistant professor at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
• Use nicotine replacements like the patch, inhaler or gum. A study at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, found that pairing nicotine replacements with a support program (like telephone quit lines) increased even heavy smokers' odds of quitting successfully.
• Stop at the right time. Your menstrual cycle might help. Because of hormonal fluctuations, cravings for food, nicotine or alcohol tend to increase during the one to two weeks before your period. That's likely why research has shown that women are best able to extinguish a cigarette habit during the two weeks after their periods, when feel-good estrogen is on the rise.

6 Ways to Protect Yourself From Lung Cancer

• Mind the Symptoms. A cough that won't go away, fatigue you can't shake, unexplained weight loss, achiness in your chest or shoulders: "These symptoms of lung cancer are easy to dismiss," says Jennifer Garst, M.D., an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina. "Young women usually think, Oh, I'm just stressed, or I've just got a passing bug." See a doctor if you're dealing with any of this. If a cough hangs on for more than four weeks, request a chest X-ray. And if your M.D. is resistant to doing further tests or can't pinpoint the cause of your symptoms, get a second opinion.
• Pile your plate with plant foods. Research has found that people who eat lots of fruit and veggies have a significantly lower risk of lung cancer - and just about all other cancers, too. Beans, tofu and tea have also been hailed as anti-lung-cancer superheroes.
• Exercise more. "Exercise controls the body's immune response and reduces inflammation that may contribute to cancer growth," says Dr. Cook. It's so powerful that even smokers who work out regularly have slightly lower risk of lung cancer than those who aren't as active, she says.
• Avoid secondhand smoke. Just sitting in a hazy bar for two hours is equivalent of smoking four cigarettes. Happily, 31 states have already banned smoking in restaurants, workplaces and government buildings, and 22 of those also prohibit lighting up in bars. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has set a goal to kick cigarettes out of all restaurants, bars and work sites in the United States by the year 2010.
• Check the safety of your home. More than 20,000 lung cancer deaths a year are due to exposure to radon, an odorless gas that creeps into homes from underground uranium deposits. Rocky regions like mountain states and the Midwest have the highest amounts of radon, but the only sure way to know if you're being exposed is to check the air in your home - you can get a home test for about $10 from the National Safety Council at (800) 767-7236 or nsc.org.
• Be smart about air pollution. To avoid inhaling too many toxins, work out indoors on smoggy days. If you must exercise outdoors, the American Lung Association recommends that you do it in the morning or evening to avoid heavy breathing at midday, when heat and sun make smog more toxic. And stay away from the busiest streets, which have higher levels of pollutants.