Surgeon General Warns that Even Inhaling is BAD: A December 9 report says there's no doubt that tobacco smoke begins poisoning immediately as more then 7,000 chemicals in each puff rapidly spread through the body to cause cellular damage in nearly every organ. "That one puff on that cigarette could be the one that causes your heart attack," said Surgeon General Regina Benjamin. OR the one that causes someone else's: "I advise people to try to avoid being around smoking any way that you can," she said. About 443,000 Americans die from tobacco-caused illness every year. About 46 million adults -one in five- still smoke, and tens of millions more are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke. It's become clear that some of the harms- especially those involving the heart-kick in right a3way, said Dr. Terry Pechacek of the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. That means social smoking, the occasional cigarette at a party, can be enough to trigger a heart attack in someone whose arteries already are silently clogged, he said. (See entire article in Record Eagle December 16,2010)

Changes Your Body Goes Through When You Quit Smoking

Within 20 minutes of the last cigarette:· Blood pressure drops to normal· Pulse rate drops to normal· Body temperature of hands and feet increases to normal

8 Hours:· Carbon Monoxide level in blood drops to normal· Oxygen level in blood increases to normal

24 Hours:· Chances of a heart attack decreases

48 Hours:· Nerve endings start to re-grow

72 Hours:· Bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier· Lung capacity increases

2 Weeks to 3 Months:· Circulation improves. Walking becomes easier· Lung function increases up to 30%

1 to 9 Months:· Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath is decreased· Cilia re-grows in lungs, increasing ability to handle mucous, clean the lungs, reduce infection· Body's overall energy level increases

5 Years:· Lung cancer death rate for average smoker (one pack a day) decreases from 137 per 100,000 people to 72 per 100,000

10 Years:· Lung cancer death rate for average smoker drops to 12 deaths per 100,000. Almost the rate of non-smokers· Pre-cancerous cells are replaced with healthy cells· Other cancers - such as those of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases. (There are 30 chemicals in tobacco smoke that cause cancer.)