Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S.¹
Tobacco is an addictive substance because it contains the chemical nicotine. Like heroin or cocaine, nicotine changes the way your brain works and causes you to crave more and more nicotine. This addiction to nicotine is what makes it so difficult to quit smoking and other tobacco.
Smokeless tobacco contains 28 carcinogenic agents and poses many health risks.1 It is a well-known fact that smokeless tobacco causes oral and pancreatic cancer. Tooth decay, periodontal disease, and gum recession occur secondary to the use of smokeless tobacco, as well. There is an increased risk of preeclampsia, preterm birth, hypertension, and low birth weight with smokeless tobacco use during pregnancy. Smokeless tobacco also leads to abnormal sperm and reduced sperm counts among men. Nicotine addiction and dependence occurs among smokeless tobacco users just as it does among cigarette smokers.
Cigarette smoking takes the lives of one in five3 people (more than 443,0002) yearly in the U.S., which is more lives lost than from a combination of AIDS, motor vehicle collisions, illegal drugs, alcohol, homicides, and suicides.3 Another 50,000 people die annually from secondhand smoke exposure. Additionally, it causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths among non-smokers annually.4 Exposing others to 30 minutes of moderate amounts of secondhand smoke damages blood vessels in young, healthy non-smokers and interferes with the body’s ability to repair such damage. Infants and children who are exposed to secondhand smoke have significantly more upper respiratory tract infections and poorer lung development than those who are not exposed to secondhand smoke.
While smoking rates have declined by more than 50% over the last 20 years, 20% (46 million)3 of adults and 18%1 of high school students in the U.S. continue to smoke. It is imperative that people who smoke understand how smoking cessation can benefit them personally.
The table below lists physical benefits that begin to occur within 20 minutes of smoking cessation.3, 5
Smoking cessation can also relieve financial burden when one considers the following costs related to tobacco use. On average, the annual healthcare burden of cost for tobacco use in Indiana alone is $2.2 billion.3 Tobacco use also produces higher health and life insurance policy rates, increased absenteeism from work/school, and decreased productivity for employers. Employees who smoke also contribute to increases in healthcare costs, risk of workplace injuries, disability claims, cleaning/maintenance costs, and disciplinary action.
While nicotine in tobacco is more addictive than heroin or cocaine, there are effective methods that can assist with tobacco cessation, as indicated below.3
- Call the Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669) for free phone-based counseling. Phones are answered 7 days/week between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. EST. Translation services are available. You can also Chat online with a specialist at smokefree.gov
- By calling the Tobacco Quitline, participants receive four pre-arranged calls with a Quit Coach, unlimited call-ins, ten pre-arranged calls for pregnant women, 24-hour access to an interactive website, and 2 weeks’ free nicotine replacement therapy while supplies last, and support materials. Family members and friends who wish to help a loved one to quit using tobacco also have access to Tobacco Quitline services.
- WebCoach – Lifetime membership providing access to a quit coach and 25,000 members to discuss struggles, successes, and challenges and to encourage you. WebCoach also offers a milieu of tools to help with tobacco cessation.
- Text2Quit – Free interactive texting program in which you receive timed quit tips, trivia questions, and cravings’ games to help you to avoid tobacco use.
- The EX Plan is a free service that helps smokers prepare to stop smoking before they are ready to quit and teaches them how to live without smoking cigarettes.
The first step is making a decision to stop using tobacco. The following tips can help prepare you to quit using tobacco for life:5
- Talk to your medical provider or pharmacist about options for quitting.
- Set a quit date within the next 2 weeks to give yourself time to prepare to quit using tobacco.
- Drink more water so that you stay hydrated, cleanse the body, and increase caloric burn.
- Tell others that you are planning to quit and explain how they can support your efforts.
- Eat the right kinds of food to replenish nutrients depleted by tobacco use.
- Anticipate and plan to overcome challenging times when refraining from tobacco use is difficult, which is usually in the first few weeks of quitting. Develop a predefined plan to help you overcome uncomfortable feelings, cravings, withdrawal, and temptations related to tobacco use.
- Remove any reminders of tobacco use from your vehicle, home, and workplace.
- Use physical exercise to reduce the urge to smoke and detoxify the body of harmful chemicals from tobacco use.
- Place a free call to the Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW to speak with a trained coach who can help you devise a successful plan.
What NOT TO DO to quit tobacco use:
Do NOT use e-cigarettes if you wish to quit tobacco use. Electronic cigarettes (E-cigarettes) are battery-powered devices designed to change nicotine and other chemicals into vapor that can be inhaled.1 E-cigarettes may be designed to resemble cigarettes, pipes, cigars, or pens. E-cigarettes have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because of a lack of clinical studies to support their safety. Without FDA approval, chemicals (potentially toxic) and quantities of nicotine contained within e-cigarettes, as well as long-term adverse health effects remain unknown to users.
©2021HealthSpot References: (1) U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2017). BeTobaccoFree.gov. Retrieved from https://betobaccofree.hhs.gov/about-tobacco/Electronic-Cigarettes/index.html (2) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2008). Smoking, attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity losses — United States, 2000-2004. MMWR Weekly, 57(45), 1226-1228. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5745a3.htmQuit Now Indiana (3) Indiana Department of Health. (n.d.). Quit now Indiana employer toolkit. Retrieved from http://www.in.gov/quitline/files/QuitNowIndianaEmployerToolKit.pdf (4) Quit Now Indiana. (2002). Secondhand smoke is hazardous to your health. Retrieved from http://www.quitnowindiana.com/SHS.html (5) Quit Now Indiana. (2002). Now is the perfect time to Quit4Life. Retrieved from http://www. quitnowindiana.com/Quit4Life_Consumer.html