Many people know that smoking is unhealthy. Images of blackened lungs and the dangers of smoking are posted in hospitals, schools, and physician offices. In spite of this information many smokers have tried, but have not been able to quit smoking.
When a smoker inhales a puff of cigarette smoke, the surface area of the lungs lets nicotine pass into the blood stream nearly instantly. It is this nicotine “rush” that smokers desire, but there’s more to smoke than just nicotine. In fact, there are more than four thousand chemical substances in cigarette smoke and many of them are poisonous. Cigarette smoke is made up of forty-three carcinogenic substances and more than four hundred other toxins that are also found in varnish, solvents, and rat poison.
Smokers have more health problems and live shorter lives than non-smokers. On average, smoking takes fifteen years off a smoker’s life span. Smokers also put other people at risk for disease. The U.S. Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has classified second hand smoke as a Group A carcinogen.
Cancer is the most widespread disease linked to smoking. Smoking causes ninety percent of lung cancer cases. According to United States Department of Health and Social Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, “smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease, costing us too many lives, too many dollars and too many tears. If we are going to be serious about improving health and preventing disease we must continue to drive down tobacco use. And we must prevent our youth from taking up this dangerous habit.” This of course is easier said than done.
Physicians throughout the state of Alaska are working with patients to help them to stop smoking. Finding an effective way to stop smoking is a daunting task; each person is different and responds differently to smoking cessation tools. However, there are many tools available to smokers who want to quit smoking.
Methods for quitting
There are many methods to quit smoking. Some people like to quit cold turkey (i.e., all of a sudden) while others like to gradually reduce their smoking. Either method can work. Select the method you are most comfortable with.
· Self help. Some people prefer to quit on their own. There is a wide variety of materials and resources to help you including self help book and pamphlets, videos, audio tapes, internet sites, computer programs, and telephone recordings. In general, although self help methods can be helpful; they are less likely to work than those that involve even brief contact with a counselor, facilitator or health care professional.
· Individual advice and counseling. Individuals who don't want to quit on their own also have many choices available to them. Brief counseling by a doctor, dentist, pharmacist or nurse has been shown to be helpful.
· Counseling. In some areas of Alaska smokers have access to special smoking cessation or addiction clinics. These facilities usually have one or more highly trained specialists. They can be particularly helpful for highly addicted smokers, smokers who have tried several times to quit without success and/or smokers who are also trying to deal with other complex medical or addiction problems.
· Group programs. Another approach to smoking cessation is the group program. It usually consists of between four and twelve people who are all trying to quit smoking. Some programs are led by a specially trained facilitator/counselor. Other programs, called mutual aid groups, provide an opportunity for smokers to help each other without a formal counselor. Research shows that, in general, group programs are among the most successful types of services to help people quit smoking. However, not all people feel comfortable in group situations.
·ÊMedications. A variety of medications are used to help people quit smoking. Nicotine replacement therapy such as gum, skin patches, tablets, nasal spray and inhalers are common, as well as antidepressant medications Zyban and Aventyl. Chantix, a new FDA approved medication for smoking cessation was made available May 2006. Not all people should take medications. If you have questions, ask your pharmacist or doctor.
· Alternative therapies. While it is possible that some individuals may be helped by alternative treatments such hypnosis, laser therapy, acupuncture and herbal therapy these options have a low overall quit rate.
· Don't be discouraged. If you've tried one or more of these methods and they didn't work for you. People learn something each time they try to quit smoking. Therefore, something that didn't work in the past may work now because you will approach it differently.
Prescription Coverage for Smoking Cessation
Many Health Insurance programs are realizing the benefit of preventative measures in regard to smoking. Smoking cessation medications and counseling are becoming common coverages as well as group counseling and online counseling sessions for members. Medicare has decided to follow this lead and in 2005 approved coverage in certain cases for counseling and in January 2006 began prescription smoking-cessation medication coverage.
What Happens When You Quit Smoking?
Immediate Rewards Within 12 hours after you have your last cigarette, your body will begin to heal itself. The levels of carbon monoxide and nicotine in your system will decline rapidly, and your heart and lungs will begin to repair the damage caused by cigarette smoke.
Within a few days you will probably begin to notice some remarkable changes in your body. Your sense of smell and taste may improve. You will breathe easier, and your smoker's hack will begin to disappear, although you may notice that you will continue to cough for a while. And you will be free from the mess, smell, inconvenience, expense, and dependence of cigarette smoking.
Immediate Effects
As your body begins to repair itself, instead of feeling better right away, you may feel worse for a while. It's important to understand that healing is a process, it begins immediately, but it continues over time. These “withdrawal pangs” are really symptoms of the recovery process.
Immediately after quitting, many ex-smokers experience &147;symptoms of recovery” such as temporary weight gain caused by fluid retention, irregularity, and dry, sore gums or tongue. You may feel edgy, hungry, more tired, and more short-tempered than usual and have trouble sleeping and notice that you are coughing a lot. These symptoms are the result of your body clearing itself of nicotine, a powerful addictive chemical. Most nicotine is gone from the body in 2-3 days.
Long-range Benefits
It is important to understand that the long range after-effects of quitting are only temporary and signal the beginning of a healthier life. Now that you've quit, you've added a number of healthy productive days to each year of your life. Most important, you've greatly improved your chances for a longer life. You have significantly reduced your risk of death from heart disease, stroke, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and several kinds of cancer.
Although the chances of developing lung cancer when you quit smoking are lowered, there are screening tools available to monitor high risk patients, this includes patients that have had a long history of smoking.
Screening for Lung Cancer
Screening means testing people for the early stages of a disease before they have any symptoms.Ê It is an important part of health care for some cancers.
· Chest X-Ray
Lung cancer is often picked up on chest X-ray.Ê This tool is used most commonly by physicians, however by the time lung disease is diagnosed this way, it is often quite advanced.
·ÊSpiral CTResearchers are trying to find out whether screening with spiral CT scanning would help them diagnose lung cancer earlier and improve the cure rate.Ê A large trial, involving 50,000 people opened in 2002 andÊisn't due to finish until 2009.ÊSmaller scale studies have shown that screening with spiral CT has proven to be useful in early detection of lung cancer.
It is always more cost effective to screen people at high risk, rather than screen everyone.Ê For lung cancer, we know who is at higher risk - anyone who smokes.ÊAs soon as you stop smoking, you start to lower your risk.
Alaska Open Imaging provides CT services in Anchorage and Wasilla and X-Ray services in Wasilla. Alaska Open Imaging Center operates facilities in Anchorage, Wasilla, Soldotna and Fairbanks. Services include Positron Emission Tomography, MRI (High field and open), CT, Ultrasound, X-Ray and Bone Density testing. For more information, call 907-330-1220 or visit online at www.alaskaopen.com.
Kim Black is Marketing Director at Alaska Open Imaging Centers and has spent over 12 years in health care marketing
Pulmonology
