The More You Know

ANTI-SMOKING

"Imagine living longer. Imagine feeling better. Imagine saving money. Now stop imagining, set a quit date and stop smoking." - Christopher Meloni, Law & Order: SVU

The Harm in Smoking

Approximately 20.6% of U.S. adults (46 million people) are current cigarette smokers. With nearly 1,000 children under 18 years of age trying cigarettes each day, education is becoming more important as younger kids experiment with smoking. Smokers not only harm themselves but also put their family and friends at risk by exposing them to secondhand smoke. By saving someone from smoking, we can also reduce the risk to those around them, which will prevent millions of deaths per year.

Creating Addiction

Nicotine, the prominent drug found in tobacco, is highly addictive - as addictive as heroin or cocaine. When a person inhales cigarette smoke, nicotine enters into the lungs, where it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream. The drug is then carried to all parts of the body, including the heart, blood vessels and brain.

Nicotine produces favorable feelings for smokers, creating a desire to smoke even more. It also acts as a depressant, impeding the flow of information passing between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to the nicotine, smokers increase the number of cigarettes they smoke in order to feel the same effects. Eventually, smokers need a certain level of nicotine and smoke in order to maintain that level.

Smokers not only become physically addicted to cigarettes but also associate smoking with various social activities, making it even more difficult to quit. These routines are developed at a young age, as about 90% of smokers start before the age of 21. Family relationships also affect addiction to smoking; children of smokers are twice as likely to start smoking than children of non-smokers.

Effects on Smokers

Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Each year, over 430,000 Americans die from smoking-related causes, making cigarettes more lethal than alcohol, homicide, suicide, AIDS, car accidents and illegal drugs combined.

Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in women. Lung cancer is the most common of cancer fatalities and one of the most difficult to treat. The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes and about 13 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with non-smokers. Cigarettes are a leading cause of other types of cancer as well, including larynx, esophagus and bladder. Smoking is also a major cause of heart disease, bronchitis, emphysema and strokes.

More visible effects of smoking include:

• premature wrinkling of the skin
• bad breath
• yellow fingernails
• blindness in the elderly

In women, smoking is also linked to dangers such as:

• reduced fertility
• higher risk of miscarriage
• premature delivery
• stillbirth
• low birth weight in newborns

The Risk in Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of smoke coming from the end of the cigarette and the smoke that is exhaled by the smoker. Secondhand smoke contains at least 250 chemicals known to be toxic, including more than 50 that can cause cancer.

More than 126 million nonsmoking Americans continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke in homes, vehicles, workplaces and public places. Even small amounts of secondhand smoke are harmful; smoke inhalation has immediate effects on the cardiovascular system and increases the risk of heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk. Secondhand smoke can also cause chest discomfort and irritation of the eyes, throat and lungs. Each year in the United States, secondhand smoke exposure is responsible for 150,000-300,000 new cases of bronchitis and pneumonia in children aged less than 18 months. This results in 7,500-15,000 hospitalizations annually.

Most exposure to secondhand smoke occurs in homes and workplaces. Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25-30% and their lung cancer risk by 20-30%. Secondhand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), acute respiratory infections, ear problems, and more frequent and severe asthma attacks in children, resulting in more ear infections and respiratory symptoms. If you can't quit for yourself, quit for your friends and family.

What You Can Do...

You can quit smoking RIGHT NOW! Click here for instant quitting support and resources.

Cigarettes are not only detrimental to the smoker but also to non-smokers who breathe in the smoke. Take certain precautions in order to protect yourself and your family from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.

• Quit: Research shows that most people try to quit five to seven times before succeeding. Don't give up - the health and economic benefits are well worth the effort.
• Talk to your doctor: Your physician can answer health questions, give advice and, in some cases, suggest medicine to help with withdrawal.
• Set a quit date: Track your progress along the way and plan for challenges ahead. Your confidence about quitting will increase once you've seen how far you've come.
• Get rid of 'em: Remove all tobacco products from your daily life.
• Get support: Your friends, family and children can serve as moral support along the way. Talk openly with them about your plans to quit.
• Keep it away from children: Children are especially sensitive to secondhand smoke. Keep cigarettes away from kids and make sure their daycare or school is smoke-free.
• Find the trigger: Social activities and places often prompt the need for a cigarette. Avoid such activities.
• Educate your kids: Almost 90% of smokers began their habit before the age of 21. Educating children on the risks involved may stop them from ever starting.
• If you're pregnant, don't smoke: Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk for stillbirth and miscarriage.
• Stay in open areas: Smoke only in open areas and away from others. Refrain from smoking in the car or house, where you can put others at risk.
• Keep your home smoke-free: Do not smoke in your home and ask others to not smoke in your home.
• Sit away from smoke: Sit in non-smoking areas in bars and restaurants.
• Help others who are trying to quit: Offer support and encouraging words to smokers who are trying to quit. Help them with easing the stress of quitting, don't take their withdrawal symptoms personally, and most importantly, celebrate along the way.

To Know More...

Center for Disease Control: Office on Smoking and Health
www.cdc.gov/tobacco