News flash: Smoking is hazardous to your health
Assuming in the field of journalism (and, no doubt, many other fields) is very frowned upon, but one can certainly assume that in this day and age, the majority of the population – smokers and nonsmokers alike – knows that smoking is hazardous to your health.
According to Dr. Janis Brewer, a pulmonary and critical care specialist at Washington Health System, “Cigarette smoking is the single most important cause of disease and premature death in the United States. Smokers die about 14 years before non smokers.”
She backs that up with some startling statistics: 480,000 Americans die each year of tobacco-related causes. And 41,000 of those don’t smoke, but live with a smoker.
The Great American Smokeout, an initiative of the American Cancer Society, takes place Nov. 17. It’s a great excuse to join the 1.3 million people who quit smoking each year.
Still not convinced? Allow us to share some more scary smoking facts.
Brewer said that every organ in the body is affected by the habit. In addition to smoking being the number one cause of lung cancer, women’s fertility is negatively affected, and it can raise the risks of early menopause and osteoporosis. Brewer said it’s the number one cause of gum disease, impotence and dementia. And it’s a hereditary habit – 90 percent of children that smoke come from families with smokers. Second hand smoke contributes to heart disease, lung cancer, bronchitis and strokes in adults. Children exposed to second-hand smoke have more ear infections, more frequent asthma attacks and an increased chance of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Brewer said that those who quit smoking feel better in just one week. “They’re less short of breath, and have an increased exercise tolerance from not breathing in carbon monoxide.”
The more time that passes after a person quits, the more benefits they will reap. In fact, Brewer said that someone who had smoked for 25 years has the same mortality rate as someone who has never smoked, once 10-15 years pass after they quit.
Ready now? Good. Brewer has some quitting strategies to offer.
You can taper off over the course of 20 weeks. For example, the first week, you would have 20 cigarettes over the course of the week. The second week, drop it down to 19. The third week, drop it down to 18, and so on.
Some prefer to go cold turkey. If that’s the case, just pick a day – Nov. 17 comes to mind.
For those who need a little additional help, Brewer recommends Nicoderm CQ patches or nicotine gum, medications like Zyban or Chantix, nicotine lozenges or smoking cessation programs.
One last factoid: Brewer said that 1.3 million people quit smoking every year, and that now there are more people in American that have quit smoking than that are smoking.
Dr. Brewer can be reached at 724-222-2577. For more information on the Great American Smokeout, visit www.cancer.org.