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."

Quitting the habit is more important than ever. Smoking related illnesses are the number one cause of death in the African American community, surpassing all other causes, including AIDS, homicide, diabetes, and accidents, according a Web site for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

Dr. Bright-Ellington offers some suggestions on how to to quit: pick a date and invest in bags of lollipops."Put the lollipops where you usually keep your cigarettes (beside, jackets, purses, bags),'' she writes in Chapter 2, among other things. "The candy will give your mouth something to do; the stick will give your hands something to do. If your mouth and hands are occupied, there will be no room for a cigarette, which you're trying to make your former best buddy.''

In an earlier part of Chapter 2, she addressed the importance of controlling diabetes. In Chapter 1 she addressed the importance of finding a primary care physician. Look for weekly excerpts from the informative book here on the AOL Black Voices Wellness blog.

If you're smoking approximately a pack a day, consider talking with your doctor about nicotine replacement systems ("the patch,'' nicotine gum, etc.) to help you through the first several days of nicotine withdrawal, she suggests.

Regardless of how much or how little you smoke, prescription medication varenicline, marketed as Chantix, and certain formulations of Buproprion, or Wellbutrin, taken for a few months have been helpful for many to get through the tremendous psychological cravings, Dr. Bright-Ellington writes.

Smoking is a major cause of impotence. The chemicals from cigarette smoke makes the cholesterol and fats in the blood stream sticky, which clogs the arteries (blood vessels) necessary for a normal erection.

Moral of the story:
If you smoke, don't quit quitting. Ask your doctor for help. Even if you've unsuccessfully tried to quit or have been a smoker for years, you're not doomed to being a smoker all your life...If you or someone you love is a man who smokes, find a doctor who can give you the tools you need-behavior modification, prescription, support to help you quit. It may save your life and your love life.