The American Cancer Society marks the Great American Smokeout on the third Thursday of November each year by encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day.

By quitting even for one day, smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life, one that can lead to reducing cancer risk.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the US, yet about 42 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, approximately 1 in every 5 adults. As of 2012, there were also 13.4 million cigar smokers in the US, and 2.3 million who smoke tobacco in pipes. And even more disturbingly, more than a quarter of a million youth who had never smoked a cigarette used electronic cigarettes in 2013, according to a CDC study published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. These, most likely, will be tomorrow’s tobacco users.

Why quit?

Within:

• 20 Minutes: Your heart rate and blood pressure drop.

• 12 Hours: The carbon monoxide level in our blood drops to normal.

• 2 weeks-3 months: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

• 1-9 months: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease.

• 1 year: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a continuing smoker’s.

• 5 years: Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder are cut in half. Cervical cancer risk falls to that of a non-smoker. Stroke risk can fall to that of a non-smoker after 2-5 years.

• 10 years: The risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking.

• 15 years: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker’s.

Quitting tobacco is the best thing you can do for your health.

The Grant County Health Department encourages you to make a plan and quit! Call the Quit Line 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit the Quitline online at www.quitnow.net/oregon.

Sheila Comer is the Tobacco Prevention and Education Program coordinator at the Grant County Health Department. Information for this column comes from the American Cancer Society.