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Smoking and quitting smoking facts

Although smoking is an addiction, people can quit smoking. Secondhand smoke is harmful to the health of children, unborn children, family

members, and coworkers.

Quitting smoking cuts the risk of lung cancer , heart disease , stroke , and respiratorydiseases. The steps in quitting, each of which requires special attention and efforts by the smoker,

are getting ready to quit, quitting, and staying quit. A number of techniques are available to assist people who want to quit, including

nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), behavioral modification, self-help literature, andprescription medications.

In nicotine replacement therapy, which is the cornerstone of most smoking cessationprograms, another source of nicotine is substituted while the cigarettes are stopped. (Theidea of nicotine replacement therapy is to eliminate both the smoking habit - although theaddiction remains - and the symptoms of withdrawal. Then, the replacement nicotine is

gradually stopped.) Currently, three forms of nicotine replacement therapy are available over the counter:nicotine patches , nicotine gum , and nicotine lozenges, while two forms are available byprescription, an inhaler and a nasal spray.

Nicotine replacement therapy has about a 25% success rate, which increases to 35% or40% when nicotine replacement therapy is combined with intensive behavioralcounseling.

Nicotine-containing substances have side effects, interactions with other medications,effects on other medical conditions, and limitations in their use.

Varenicline (Chantix) is a prescription drug that can help adults quit smoking. It isbelieved to act on the same receptors (the sites where nicotine acts to produce its effects)

in the brain as nicotine, resulting in activation (stimulation) of these receptors andblocking the ability of nicotine to attach to these receptors. A prescription drug called bupropion (Zyban, Wellbutrin) has also been found to be

effective in helping people to stop smoking.

What problems are caused by smoking?

By smoking, you can cause health problems not only for yourself but also for those around you.

Hurting Yourself

Smoking is an addiction. Tobacco contains nicotine , a drug that is addictive. The nicotine,therefore, makes it very difficult (although not impossible) to quit. In fact, since the U.S.Surgeon General's 1964 report on the dangers of smoking, millions of Americans have quit. Still,approximately 440,000 deaths occur in the U.S. each year from smoking-related illnesses; thisrepresents almost 1 out of every 5 deaths. The reason for these deaths is that smoking greatlyincreases the risk of getting lung cancer, heart attack , chronic lung disease, stroke, and manyother cancers. Smoking is the most preventable cause of death. In addition, smoking is perhapsthe most preventable cause of breathing (respiratory) diseases within the USA.

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Hurting Others

Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers, and others whobreathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke or passive smoke. Amonginfants up to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000 cases

of chronic bronchitis and pneumonia each year. In addition, secondhand smoke from a parent'scigarette increases a child's chances for middle ear problems, causes coughing and wheezing , worsens asthma , and increases an infant's risk of dying from sudden infant death syndrome(SIDS) .

Smoking is also harmful to the unborn fetus. If a pregnant woman smokes, her fetus is at anincreased risk of miscarriage , early delivery (prematurity), stillbirth, infant death, and low birthweight. In fact, it has been estimated that if all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about4,000 new babies would not die each year.

Exposure to passive smoke can also cause cancer. Research has shown that non-smokers who

reside with a smoker have a 24% increase in risk for developing lung cancer when comparedwith other non-smokers. An estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year in the U.S. thatare attributable to passive smoking. Secondhand smoke also increases the risk of stroke and heartdisease. If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke as a teenagerwhose parents are both nonsmokers. Even in households where only one parent smokes, youngpeople are more likely to start smoking.

Quit Smoking

Methods to Help You Quit Smoking

Several methods are available to assist those who decide to quit smoking. The main categories of methods are:

Prescription smoking cessation aids: varenicline (Chantix), Nicotrol Inhaler and Nicotrol NS,and bupropion hydrochloride (Zyban, Wellbutrin) are available smoking cessation prescriptionaids. Antihypertensive drugs such as Clonidine (Catapres) and calcium channel blockers havealso been prescribed to assist in quitting smoking; however, they have been less effective thanother aids to smoking cessation.

Behavioral modification and self-help literature to quit smoking: Due to the addictive natureof nicotine, some form of behavioral modification is often necessary for successful cessation of smoking. Educational programs, hypnosis, and aversion therapy (learning how to avoidcigarettes) are a few options.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT): The purpose of nicotine replacement therapy is tosubstitute another source of nicotine while cigarettes are discontinued. By this means, the habitof smoking is eliminated, even though the addiction to nicotine remains intact. But at the same

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time, nicotine replacement therapy eliminates the symptoms of withdrawal that can trigger moresmoking.