Record Number of People Quit Smoking During Pandemic

Talk about a silver lining! During a pandemic that is mainly known for affecting a person's respiratory system, people are quitting smoking in record numbers! I'm happy to say that I am one of them. I'm now 21 days smoke-free after smoking for nearly thirty years!

According to a recent study out of England, more people have quit smoking in the first six months of 2020 than in the past decade. 41% of the respondents attributed it in part to the pandemic. Other contributing factors included health concerns, access, or lack thereof to tobacco while isolating or no longer smoking socially. To put the 41% number in perspective, since the folks at the University College London started collecting data regarding smoking habits in 2007, on average, only 5.9% of smokers made the decision to quit on an annual basis. That's HUGE!

This is also big news because according to research in the United States by the New England Journal of Medicine, smokers have been 1.8 times more likely to die than non-smokers when hospitalized for COVID-19.

It turns out that I'm not the only one in the Shreveport-Bossier area who decided to take control of their health and quit smoking this year. When I posted about my progress on social media, I found that several people on my friends' list had decided to better their health as well! Check out some of their comments and stories in the post below and as always, I'd love it if you shared your story and gave me a follow!