Tobacco Cessation
Are you looking to stop smoking or vaping, or do you want to help a loved one quit? We are here to support you every step of the way with helpful tools, tips, and encouragement. The key is to keep trying to quit until you succeed for good.
It’s never too late to quit smoking. Stopping now can improve your health and lower your risk of heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and other illnesses related to smoking.
Benefits of Quitting
As soon as you quit smoking, your body starts to repair the damage, and this healing process continues for many years.
20 Minutes After Quitting:
Your heart rate drops to a normal level.
12 to 24 Hours After Quitting:
The carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal.
The risk of having a heart attack is significantly reduced.
2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting:
Your risk of having a heart attack begins to decrease.
Your lung function starts to improve.
1 to 9 Months After Quitting:
Coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
1 Year After Quitting:
Your added risk of coronary heart disease is cut in half compared to someone who uses cigarettes or other tobacco products.
5 to 15 Years After Quitting:
Your risk of having a stroke is reduced to that of a non-smoker.
Your risk of developing cancer of the mouth, throat, or esophagus is also reduced by half compared to someone who uses cigarettes or other tobacco products.
10 Years After Quitting:
Your risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of someone who continues to smoke.
Your risk of bladder cancer is halved as well.
Your chances of developing cervical cancer or cancers of the larynx, kidney, or pancreas decrease.
15 Years After Quitting:
Your risk of coronary heart disease is the same as that of someone who does not use cigarettes or other tobacco products.
Quitting isn’t easy but more than 50 million ex-smokers in the United States are proof that it’s possible.
Do you know what’s in a cigarette?
There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, cigarettes create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are toxic.
Many of these chemicals also are found in consumer products, but these products have warning labels—such as rat poison packaging. While the public is warned about the danger of the poisons in these products, there is no such warning for the toxins in tobacco smoke.
Here are a few of the chemicals in tobacco smoke and other places they are found:
Acetone—found in nail polish remover
Acetic acid—an ingredient in hair dye
Ammonia—a common household cleaner
Arsenic—used in rat poison
Benzene—found in rubber cement and gasoline
Butane—used in lighter fluid
Cadmium—active component in battery acid
Carbon monoxide—released in car exhaust fumes
Formaldehyde—embalming fluid
Hexamine—found in barbecue lighter fluid
Lead—used in batteries
Naphthalene—an ingredient in mothballs
Methanol—a main component in rocket fuel
Nicotine—used as an insecticide
Tar—material for paving roads
Toluene—used to manufacture paint
Quitting isn’t easy but more than 50 million ex-smokers in the United States are proof that it’s possible.
Tips for Quitting
-Focus on your motivators: Motivation waxes and wanes and this is 100 percent normal—what can you do to increase your motivation when you feel defeated or low?
-Build Confidence: Confidence that your attempt will be successful is important! What can you do to increase your confidence levels? Your confidence can increase when you make and achieve a series of small goals, when you visualize your success and when you feel like you have the tools ready for any situation.
-Stress management is key: Many people use tobacco products to manage stress, distress, and negative emotions. Being prepared with other ways to manage these feelings can be difficult and takes a lot of practice. What do your friends who don’t smoke or use other tobacco products do to manage stress?
-It’s never too late to quit: While it’s best to quit as early as possible, quitting at any age will enhance the length and quality of your life. You’ll also save money and avoid the hassle of going outside in the cold to smoke. You can even inspire those around you to quit!
-Learn from past experiences: Most people who smoke and use other tobacco products have tried to quit before and sometimes they get discouraged thinking about previous attempts. But these experiences tell us a lot about what to do and what not to do next time! These experiences are steps on the road to future success. Think about what worked for you last time, what didn’t work and what you might do differently this time.
-You don’t have to quit alone: Telling friends and family that you’re trying to quit and enlisting their support will help ease the process. Expert help is available from the American Lung Association and other groups. Friends who also use tobacco products may even join you in trying to quit!
-Medications are safe and effective when used properly: The seven FDA-approved medications include nicotine patches, gum, lozenges and nasal spray as well as varenicline (Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban). Ask your healthcare provider for recommendations. The medications help with recovery symptoms, urges and cravings, but do not help with the habit or with managing stress or negative emotions. Many people don’t use the medications correctly or don’t use them long enough or expect the medication to replace all that tobacco used to do for us. Be sure to follow the directions and combine medications with other tools for quitting.
-Everyone can quit: At the American Lung Association, we firmly believe that everyone can quit. Everyone is different and each quit attempt is a little different. Find the right combination of tools, medications, and support for you! And above all, keep trying.
Quitting isn’t easy but more than 50 million ex-smokers in the United States are proof that it’s possible.
Resources
Tobacco Basics Educational Course – Take this free online course to learn the basics on tobacco use in the U.S. Continuing education credit available.
How to Help People Quit Educational Course – This free, one-hour online course is designed to help participants become navigators of the tobacco cessation process. Continuing education credit available.
Quitting isn’t easy but more than 50 million ex-smokers in the United States are proof that it’s possible.
Quitting smoking is one of the most important steps you can take to improve your health. This is true no matter how old you are or how long you have smoked. The good news is there are proven treatments that can help you quit. Give us a call to take the first step.