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Be Tobacco-free

How soon will your health improve after quitting?

  • 20
    Minutes

    Blood pressure drops to the level you had before your last cigarette and the temperature of your hands and feet returns to normal.

  • 24
    Hours

    Your chance of a heart attack decreases.

  • 1-9
    Months

    Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease: cilia regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce infection.

  • 1
    Year

    Chance of having a heart attack is cut in half.

  • 5
    Years

    Stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.

  • 15
    Years

    Risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker.

As your partner on your health & wellness journey, we want to provide you with the information and tools you need to be healthy, and that includes tobacco cessation. Choosing to quit using tobacco can be one of the most important decisions you make to improve your health and quality of life. It can be difficult, but the choice is yours to make. If you quit, health improvements start right away and continue to get better with time. If you've tried before, remember: every time you try to quit, you increase your chances of succeeding.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi members with the Be Tobacco-free benefit can get started right away by logging into myBlue and signing up for Be Tobacco-free on your member portal. You will also find more detail about the benefit and the support that is available to help you quit successfully.

Mississippi Tobacco Quitline

The Mississippi Tobacco Quitline provides tobacco users with free services to aid kicking the habit. Call today at 1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit the website at www.quitlinems.com

Learn More »

Quiz: Why do I use tobacco?

Knowing why you use tobacco helps to identify factors that will help you quit successfully.

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Please check all that apply:

- I can't go through half a day without smoking.

- Sometimes I find myself smoking even though I do not remember lighting up.

- Smoking helps me clear my mind and think better.

- I feel a strong urge to smoke when I haven't smoked in a few hours.

- Smoking is one of the greatest pleasures in my life.

- I enjoy the steps in lighting a cigarette.

- I need a cigarette as soon as I wake in the morning.

- I enjoy a cigarette after my meal.

- I smoke when I am angry or depressed.

- If I don't smoke, I feel anxious.

- Smoking relaxes me.

- I feel more comfortable with a cigarette in my hand.

Resources to help you quit

Here is a list of additional third party resources to help you be successful.

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In addition to benefiting your own health, being smoke-free helps those around you. Secondhand smoke is known to cause many health problems and make others worse. Whoever is near you when you're smoking, you're doing them a favor when you quit.

American Cancer Society
 1-800-ACS-2345
www.cancer.org

American Heart Association
 1-800-AHA-USA1
www.americanheart.org

National Cancer Institute
 1-800-4-CANCER
www.cancer.gov

American Lung Association
 1-800-LUNG-USA
www.lung.org

Agency for Healthcare Research
 and Quality
 1-800-358-9295
www.ahrq.gov

Office on Smoking and Health
 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
 1-800-CDC-INFO
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/

Mississippi Tobacco Quitline
 1-800-QUIT-NOW

Tobacco-free Workplace

Learn more about becoming a tobacco-free workplace now!

»

As a tobacco-free workplace ourselves, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi can share our success and help your business become tobacco-free, too. Click here to learn more about becoming a tobacco-free workplace.

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