The Great American Smokeout
Smoking kills 440,000 Americans annually – almost one person every minute. Smoking contributes significantly to cancers of the stomach, bladder, larynx, cervix and breast. However, most smoking deaths are from lung cancer, heart disease and chronic lung disease. In fact, more women die each year from smoking related lung cancer than from breast cancer.
Cancer is a well-known risk of smoking, but its other effects are just as bad. Stroke risk is two and a half times higher in smokers. It is a major contributor to impotence in men and osteoporosis in women. It doubles the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration, a significant cause of visual loss in older people. Smoking parents increase the risk of bronchitis, pneumonia and ear infections in their children. Pregnant smokers have infant mortality rates one-third higher than nonsmoking women. Quitting early in pregnancy will reduce the risk.
Before the first Surgeon General’s report on the hazards of smoking in 1964, about half of adult Americans smoked. Fortunately today that number is less than one fourth, but the rate is higher among teens who are more likely to become addicted. Although a minority of Americans smokes, the CDC reports that 90 percent of us have nicotine in our blood from secondhand smoke causing about 3,000 lung cancer deaths yearly among non-smokers.
Smoking is costly. A carton a week costs almost two thousand dollars to the smoker but society’s costs are much higher. About 20 percent of our health care costs are for smoking related illness. That’s about $3,400 dollars per smoker annually. Put another way, one fifth of the amount we pay for health insurance is to pay for the care of smokers. With health care costs rising rapidly, it is sobering to consider that much of it is for illness that could be prevented simply by not smoking.
The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout is November 21. If you smoke, now is a good time to become a non-smoker. It helps to make a list of all the reasons you want to quit. Perhaps it’s the health risk, the cost or the effect on your family and those around you. Maybe it’s just the smell, but you have to decide that you WANT to quit.
Think of yourself as a non-smoker rather than a reformed smoker. Have nothing to do with tobacco in any form. Plan what you will do at all the times when you would previously have smoked so that you don’t find yourself craving a cigarette with no alternative. Ask friends and family to encourage you or agree to pay them a modest sum if they catch you smoking.
It takes a just few days to withdraw from nicotine. You might consider using a non-prescription nicotine patch or gum to provide nicotine while you learn to live your life without tobacco. The prescription medication bupropion has been able to reduce the craving for nicotine in many people. Bupropion can double a person’s chance of successfully quitting when properly motivated.
While becoming a non-smoker, use the opportunity to improve your overall health. Eat a well balanced diet and minimize junk food to reduce the risk of weight gain. Remember regular exercise improves your heart and lung function and relieves stress. Drink plenty of water. Try to encourage a smoking spouse to quit also, but do not be discouraged if he or she will not quit. There’s a good chance he or she will follow your lead once you have successfully become a non-smoker.
It’s not a question of whether to quit; it’s only a matter of when. Why not today?