On average, a smoker attempts to quit smoking seven times before she or he is successful, Virgie Bright-Ellington, M.D. writes in 'What Your Doctor Wants You To Know But Doesn't Have Time to Tell You,' a helpful book with important health care tips. Breaking up with cigarettes is one of the most difficult things a smoker will ever do in life, but given that smoking is the number one cause of premature death in the U.S., it's well worth the struggle, she writes.

"To increase your odds of successfully quitting smoking, you need a plan,'' writes Dr. Bright Ellington, who trained at the Cambridge Hospital of Harvard Medical School. "I use the word 'plan' as a simple word for behavior modification. The top three reasons a person who has successfully quit smoking again are STRESS, STRESS, and STRESS. So think about it and plan what will replace your former friend, the cigarette, when you feel stressed. Notice I'm saying when, not if, you get stressed. No matter how wonderful our lives are, stressful events happen. If you don't have a plan, smoking will be back in your life."

Breast cancer awareness may be over for the month of October, but that does not mean women should forget important preventative measures year-round.

"Dietary habits, weight control and physical activity can lower the risk of breast cancer to at least 33 percent,'' Steven Pratt, M.D., tells AOL Black Voices. Dr. Pratt, a world-renowned authority on the role of nutrition and lifestyle in preventing disease and optimizing health, is author of 'SuperHealth: 6 Simple Steps, 6 Easy Weeks, 1 Longer, Healthier Life,'' a guide to ways to fight cancer, control heart disease, reverse aging and lose weight.

He offers AOL Black Voices readers 10 tips (also included in his book) to help prevent breast cancer:

When she's not making moves on the basketball court or being a mom, legendary WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes is sounding the alarm for Americans to get the seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine.

"I encourage all moms to be vaccinated, and to make sure their partners, parents and children get vaccinated, too," Swoopes, a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist, told AOL Black Voices.

Swoopes has delivered her message over the past three years as part of the American Lung Association's "Faces of Influenza" campaign. But this year, it has taken on an additional urgency with the presence of the H1N1 virus, which President Barack Obama declared a national state of emergency following the deaths of 1,000 Americans in 46 states.

Though educational videos like Baby Einstein have recently taken a beating in the press, one Chicago "mompreneur" knows that videos can help children learn – especially if set to music.

Three years ago, Candi Carter founded 'It's Hip Hop Baby' merging her love of hip-hop with her desire to meet the needs of her developmentally challenged son, Emerson.

"In 2006, when my son was three years old I created the first DVD," recounts Carter. "I love hip-hop, I love old school hip-hop. I was just watching TV and It came to me."

'It's Hip Hop Baby' uses the beats and dances of hip-hop to introduce little ones from toddlers to kindergarten the basics – ABCs, 123s and even concepts such bedtime and brushing your teeth. And with It's Hip Hop Baby, music is the key in getting children to connect.

A 50 percent reduction in the risk of breast cancer can be expected if women keep their vitamin D intake at a certain blood level, according to a study released recently by the Department of Family and Preventative Medicine at the University of California at San Diego.

"There are no unreasonable risks from the intake of 2000 IU per day of vitamin D(3),'' according to the study by Cedric Garland Ph.D. and other prominent researchers, who recommend vitamin D blood levels of about 52 ng/ml. "The time has arrived for nationally coordinated action to substantially increase intake of vitamin D and calcium.''

Your Daily Inspiration for Tuesday October 27, 2009:

Today I give God thanks for sight. I am surely grateful for the gift of physical sight that allows me to behold all of God's creations---myself, others, the many physical expressions of nature and all of humankind, great and small. And yet, I am immeasurably thankful for God's gift of spiritual sight that allows me to go beyond the limited appearances of the human eye. With spiritual sight I see the higher truth of life, infinite good, endless possibilities and divine outcomes that are in Spirit. Yes, I can see.