Social networks may help you kick your smoking habit

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, those in a social network who quit smoking can strongly influence others in the network even if they don't personally know them.

The study lead by Nicholas A. Christakis of Harvard Medical School, and James H. Fowler of the University of California at San Diego, found that entire networks of smokers appear to quit simultaneously after analyzing detailed records kept between 1971 and 2003 of about 5,124 participants who took part in the Framingham Heart Study. Many of the subjects had social connections that allowed researchers to study a bigger network of about 12,000 people.

What researchers found after studying these records is very valuable. It appears smokers are motivated to quit when someone close to them stops smoking.

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