I wonder how many people honestly believe or are ignorant enough to think that smoking has no real danger. Let's first look at a big factor to keep living, your heart. Your heart is the size of your fist and the strongest muscle in your body. The life source, if it stops, you die. Real simple. Therefore it would be safe to assume it's a good thing to do what's best for our heart. Why you ask? Because as marvelous as this system is, it is very vulnerable to damage from the things we do to it, like smoking, eating an unhealthy diet or putting it under stress. When your heart's functions become compromised, this is known as cardiovascular disease, a broad term that covers any disorder to the system that has the heart at its center.

The Major Cardiovascular Risk Factors

There are many risk factors associated with coronary heart disease and stroke. The major risk factors, tobacco use, alcohol use (and when you drink you usually smoke more and there are people who don't regularly smoke that do when they drink), high blood pressure (hypertension) which smoking increases, high cholesterol (which can be reduced when stop smoking), physical inactivity (which not so many smokers feel healthy enough with a restricted respiratory system to participate in) and unhealthy diets, and I've yet to meet a very healthy eater concerned about their health that smokes. The odds sure are getting worse for those who believe there may not be any real danger to smoking, and we only have looked at the heart. Let's look at something else.

When you see the warning on cigarette packages "Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health" the smoking-related diseases that probably come to mind are lung cancer and maybe emphysema. But, did you know that half of periodontal gum disease in smokers is caused by smoking? Chronic (long-term) gum disease can lead to the loss of your teeth, puss filled sores and horrible, disgusting breath. From there leads to lowered self esteem and confidence, restricted social life, embarrassment, continued oral decay and possible tumors in your mouth, tongue and lips. Still. Nasty cancer finds its way in somehow. But hey, my heart's okay and I don't have emphysema.

And what about emphysema? I guess it wouldn't be too constricting to walk around with an oxygen tank in tow and those tubes running up your nose just so you could do something as natural as say… breathing. And it is quite the trendy and attractive look, wouldn't you agree? Smoking is the number one cause of emphysema. Smoking is responsible for 80% to 90% of all cases of emphysema, self inflicted restriction, damage and disease to your ability to breath. Still think that cigarette is worth it. And when asked, the most popular answers people give as to why they smoke, "It relaxes me" or "It's time for me."

The truth is it does not relax the body in any way, quite contrary, that is just the emotional conditioning that has developed over time and if you need time alone, you don't need a cigarette to create it. People will leave you alone if you just tell them to beat it and go away. It's all rationalizing and creating reasons to smoke. So why do people let themselves believe it's okay to keep smoking? If I had to bet I'd say it's because they either haven't found an effective way to stop or a way that works without a huge struggle.

Thousands of people stop smoking every day and do it with a lot of struggle or no struggle at all. We all know both types of people. For smokers who finally ended the smoking habit, here is what a report from Johns Hopkins University reported:

Five percent who stopped used the "cold turkey" approach.

Nicotine replacement programs are about 20 percent. This includes the patch or chewing nicotine-containing gum, both of which are available over the counter. There is also a nicotine nasal spray or an inhaler that gives heavy smokers a faster and higher dose of nicotine that more closely simulates smoking and quashes craving better. However, you are still using nicotine to quit a habit that involves nicotine. There must be a better way.

All studies come down to one approach being most effective in the expedience and the comfort of quitting the smoking habit and that is hypnosis. The percentage varies from source to source but all data shows that the safest, quickest and most comfortable way to finally quit smoking is to use hypnosis with a reputable hypnotist. So when thinking about the dangers of smoking and getting that motivation to finally save your life and live healthier, the bottom line is to use what works best for you.