Yes it is that time of year again: the Great American Smokeout took place Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999.

Are you a smoker who participated this year, or who at least thought about quitting but never followed through? Smoking cessation is an extremely difficult task: but a truly worthwhile endeavor for many reasons.

According to the American Cancer Society, lung tissue begins to repair itself at a rapid rate after a person quits. In fact, after 10 years of not smoking, the risk of lung cancer is reduced by one-third, and after 15 years the risk is reduced by 80-90 percent.

Risk reduction benefits may be more or less, depending on how long and how heavily you smoked. Nevertheless, at any rate, health risk reduction is a big plus.

There are other significant health problems that directly relate to tobacco use. These include heart disease, atherosclerotic peripheral vascular disease, intrauterine growth retardation and low birth weight babies (caused by smoking while pregnant), cancer of the mouth, esophagus, and larynx, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This translates to a 30 percent higher death rate for a person who smokes a pack a day as compared to a nonsmoker, and a 140 percent higher death rate for those who smoke two or more packs a day.

Studies have also found that nearly 3 percent of the annual lung cancer death toll (or 4,000 deaths a year) have been caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. Nonsmoking wives of husbands who smoke have a 30 percent increased risk of lung cancer compared with women whose husbands don't smoke. In addition, children of smokers have a much greater chance of developing colds, bronchitis and pneumonia (especially during the first two years of life), chronic coughs in older children, ear infections and reduced lung function. In effect, when a smoker quits he/she not only makes a major positive impact on his/her personal health: that impact is equally important to the health of those who share the same air space.

Unfortunately, statistics also show an increase in the number of women who smoke: and a correlating increased death rate of 452 percent in the 30 years since women started smoking as much as men. Likewise, the number of young people age 18-24 who smoke has also increased.

Though legislation has increased restrictions on cigarette advertising and made a significant effort to restrict sales to teens, we still find that in the U.S. at least 400 teens a day become new smokers. What our youth do not see are the statistics that tell us that if you begin smoking before age 15, you are 19 times more likely to die of lung cancer than a nonsmoker is.

Those who are able to quit serve as a living testimony to youth and adults alike that smokers can quit, but it is much better not to start at all.

Because nicotine addiction is both chemical and psychological/behavioral in nature, smoking cessation is not easy. I hope that after reading the information contained here, you have found some very good reasons to try. Please don't give up if you experience a few false starts. Not everyone is able to just say no, throw that last pack in the garbage, and never smoke again. The headaches, nausea, difficulty concentrating, general blahs, and emotional turmoil you feel are very real withdrawal symptoms.

Some need the support of a group of people who are going through the same experience. If this method sounds right for you, Southern Regional Hospital has a smoking cessation class called Fresh Start. Call 770-541-1111 and ask for this class by name to sign up.

If you are having difficulty quitting, but you respond better to a more personal, one-to-one approach: speak to your physician. For example, the family medicine practice of William C. Adcox, M.D. and BJ Fancher, PA-C, offers tobacco cessation. They report that they have had great success using the prescription medication Zyban (a non-nicotine aid to smoking cessation) with their clients who want to stop smoking.

There are many smoking cessation aids on the market, but your physician should be able to help you decide the best method for you.

Let this be the year that you decide why you want to quit, plan how you will do it, and follow through. Quitting could be the best decision you'll make for yourself and your loved ones.

Back to Real Estate Home Page | Back to the top of the page