Q: I know that smoking is very bad for me. I’ve cut down to one cigarette after lunch and another after dinner each day, with two or three more on most Friday and Saturday nights when I socialize. I really enjoy smoking, but I want to know if I’m harming myself.A: Sorry to say, you are.
The more you smoke, the greater your risk of lung cancer, emphysema, heart attacks, and many, many other medical problems ranging from mouth and throat cancer to bladder cancer and from premature skin aging to erectile dysfunction. But even at the low end of the scale, smoking is dangerous. That’s why secondhand smoke is such a huge problem in the United States, as well as around the world.
Living with a smoker is one thing, indulging in two or three cigarettes a day quite another. A study from Norway should persuade you to quit. People who smoked just one to four cigarettes a day were nearly three times more likely to die from heart disease than nonsmokers. Low-dose smoking nearly tripled the risk of dying from lung cancer in men, and it was associated with a 50 percent increase in the overall death rate in both men and women.
The only safe dose of smoking is zero, and the best time to quit is now.
Q: How can I figure out how many calories I should take in every day?A. Clinicians use several equations to calculate how many calories a person should eat each day to maintain a stable weight. The most precise ones include height, weight, age, sex, activity level, and stressors like an injury or disease. The simplest way to estimate your daily target is to multiply your weight by:
12 if you are sedentary (little or no exercise)
13.5 if you are somewhat active (light exercise one to three days a week)
15.5 if you are moderately active (moderate exercise like brisk walking three to five days a week)
17 if you are very active (vigorous exercise or sports six to seven days a week)
19 if you are highly active (daily vigorous exercise or sports and a physical job).
Dr. Harvey B. Simon, editor, Harvard Men’s Health Watch
Dr. Thomas Lee, editor in chief, Harvard Heart Letter
