Smoking Cessation
According to the Great American Smokeout Challenge (2007), there are around 45 million smokers in the United States. However, the percentage of Americans addicted to smoking has decreased 250% in the last 50 years. It has come down from 50% in the 1950s to about 20% in 2007. Although this is a very encouraging figure, the smoking rate in the United States has remained constant over the last three years. It is obvious that the levels of smoking in the Americans have been on the rise, instead of coming down.
Smoking provides a great risk to those who are addicted to it, as well as those in the vicinity of the smoker. Smoking on a regular basis is quite harmful for the body and the fact is also mentioned on the cigarette cartons as well. And it seems that the Americans have realized the effects of tobacco since the number of people opting for cessation programs have been increasing steadily. Smoking Cessation is a term used for making efforts to prohibit tobacco and tobacco related products. According to the World Health Organization, tobacco is one of the major causes of death around the globe. The reason a large number of people are opting for this is because they find smoking very hard to quit.
According to most of the ex-smokers, quitting smoking was perhaps the hardest thing they had ever done in their lives. A very important ingredient of tobacco is Nicotine, which causes a pleasing and calming sensation. It also makes smokers more focused and feel normal. It becomes a part of their daily routine. Therefore it becomes a very important part of their lives and it takes a lot of time to break free from this addiction. Many people fail in their first attempt, which is also pretty normal.
Nicotine is the chief constituent of tobacco. It establishes nicotine dependence very rapidly, usually within six months of regular use. The extent of dependence on nicotine depends on the difficulty that the patient has in quitting smoking to live a nicotine free life. Nicotine withdrawal syndrome takes place when the nicotine levels in the blood fall very sharply. It is more in heavy smokers and those who smoke within half an hour of waking up.
There are various advantages and disadvantages of smoking. They are:
Advantages:
| • | Enhances concentration |
| • | Removes tension |
| • | Provides relaxation |
| • | Enhances pleasure |
Disadvantages:
Short Term
| • | Asthma risk |
| • | Shortness of breath |
| • | Provides relaxation |
| • | Infertility |
| • | Impotency |
| • | Risks related to pregnancy |
Long Term
| • | Lung cancer |
| • | Heart strokes |
| • | Vascular diseases |
| • | Pulmonary diseases |
Other Effects
| • | Risk of smoking in the children of smokers |
| • | High risk of infant death syndrome, asthma, respiratory infections in children. |
| • | Risk of lung cancer in family members |
For smokers who want to quit smoking on a long term basis, there are some smoking cessation services which provide help to such people. These programs make use of motivational methods as well as pharmacological therapy. Although some of these smokers are successful in quitting in their first try, the rest of them take more efforts. Most of the smokers find it very hard to quit smoking even when they are faced with some life threatening disease to themselves or some relative. In order to quit smoking for good, one needs to give some serious commitment. Although smoking of tobacco can provide a laxative effect, smoking cessation might cause constipation.
Smoking cessation has a number of immediate health benefits, both for men and women alike. Quitting smoking can reduce the risk of disorders like heart attack, lung cancer and chronic lung disease. It would benefit more if the smoker quits at an early stage. However, by making use of low yield cigarettes instead of normal ones, little or no effect is observed.
The following are the benefits of Smoking Cessation for smokers
| • | Smoking cessation increases the life expectancy. The people who have quit smoking under the age of 50 have 50% less chance of dying in the coming 15 years than the smokers who did not quit. |
| • | People who quit smoking also have less risk of sudden cardiac deaths. The reason is the decrease in the amounts of carbon monoxide. |
| • | The risk of lung cancer in those who have quit smoking is 30% to 50% after ten years of continuing cessation, and will decline as the years pass by. |
| • | Smoking cessation also reduces the risk of cancers of esophagus, pancreas, larynx and oral cavity, and in some cases, cervical and bladder cancer also. |
| • | If cessation is continued for about ten to fifteen years, the risk of heart stroke will come down to the level of those who have never smoked. |
| • | Smoking cessation reduces the risk of developing gastric ulcers. |
| • | It also reduces the rates of respiratory infections like bronchitis and pneumonia, and respiratory symptoms like cough, wheezing etc. |
Following are the side effects of cessation:
| • | Irritability and frustration |
| • | High anxiety |
| • | Weight gain or increase in appetite |
| • | Continual depression |
| • | Lack in concentration and restlessness |
Most of the smokers relapse a few times before they can actually quit smoking. These relapses are just a learning opportunity rather than signs of failure. There are some factors which are directly related to relapse. These include increased alcohol use, depression or negative mood, dietary restriction, other smokers in the vicinity, recreational drug abuse and lack of cessation support. In order to prevent relapse during cessation, following measures should be taken:
| • | Reframe the lapse in cessation as an opportunity to learn and not a failure. |
| • | Encourage the patients to identify their tempting situations and then devise a plan to handle them. |
| • | Advise stress management and relaxation techniques to the patients. |
| • | Teach them to balance their lifestyle so that the pressures are not overwhelming |