What are the health risks related to smoking?
Increased risk of cancers of:
- Oral cavity
- Lung
- Breast
- Pancrease
- Esophagus
- Bladder
- Colorectal
- Ovary
Increased risk of cardiovascular diseases such as:
- Coronoary heart disease
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Small Vessel Disease
Increased risk of lung infections and diseases such as:
- Asthma
- Emphysema
- COPD
- Respiratory infections
Smoking during pregnancy increases chance of:
- Low birth weight, abortion and small for gestational age (SGA)
Other health effects:
- Skin aging
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Numbness of fingers and toes
Benefits of Quitting Smoking
- Decreases chance of heart disease
- Improved sense of taste and smell
- Increased lung capacity and breathing
- Improved fitness for physical activity
- Reduced risk of cancer
How to prepare for quit day?
- Restrict smoking access or locations
- Practice going without one cigarette
- Set a specific quit day and time
- Start buying cigarettes by the pack, rather than by the carton
- Identify and practice coping skills
- Enlist support
- Build and maintain your motivation
- Remove all cigarettes, lighters, matches and ashtrays the night before Quit Day
- Put together a “survival kit” of gum, hard candies, rubber bands, bottled water, carrot sticks, etc. for Quit Day
Trigger Cues
Create a list of trigger cues:
- Physical settings
- Emotional settings
- Environmental settings
Alternatives to smoking
- Create a list of alternatives to each of trigger cues that could replace drug use craving
What should you do on quit day?
- Plan out the entire day
- Practice coping skills
- Identify and maintain your reward system
- Use your survival kit
- Have your teeth cleaned
- Air out your home, car, office
- Utilize your support network
- Go to bed early, if necessary!
How to maintaining your motivation?
- Keep track of your nonsmoking days on a calendar
- Start a walking program
- Purchase a reward with your newfound savings
- Never allow smoking to be an option
Using nicotine replacement therapy?
- Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) comes in a variety of forms such as patches, gums and inhalers.
- The amount of daily dose that you would need depends on the number of daily cigarettes that you smoke, the length of times that you have been a smoker and the severity of your nicotine dependence.
What other medications are available for cigarette smoking cessation?
- Chantix and Champix (Varenicline): a partial α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine agonist
- Wellbutrin (Bupropion, Zyban)
References
- Zyban, bupropion hydrochloride 150 mg sustained release tablets smoking cessation aid [product monograph]. Mississauga (ON): GlaxoSmithKline; 2001 July 5.
- Hurt RD, Sachs DPL, Glover ED, Offord KP, Johnston JA, Dale LC, et al. A comparison of sustained-release bupropion and placebo for smoking cessation. N Engl J Med 1997; 337: 1195-202.