Is this the year to quit smoking?

It’s the time of year - lots of people are trying. You know why – you’ve seen the stats. Half of long-term smokers will die from tobacco. At least five minutes of life on average (about the time taken to smoke it) are cut by every cigarette smoked. Each year, 390,000 American die from the effects of smoking. Cigarette smokers have more than twice the risk of heart attack. Cigarette smokers have two to four times the chance of cardiac arrest.

A combination of medication and counseling is recommended by the United States Public Health Service guidelines for chewing tobacco or quitting smoking. Go ahead, make an appointment with your doctor to get an extra boost on your resolution.

For free, cutting-edge, evidence-based tools designed to help specific audiences quit smoking and remain smoke-free, look no further than http://www.smokefree.gov/. They also offer state by state resources, a cravings journal, an online savings calculator and more.

Freedom From Smoking® Online, or FFS Online, is a program specifically designed for adults, like you, who want to quit smoking. (http://www.ffsonline.org/) Call the American Lung Association Lung Helpline at 1-800-548-8252.

By the way, if past attempts at quitting are haunting you, don’t look at them as failures. They are necessary steps toward quitting for good.