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SMOKING CESSATION

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Smoking: What’s the big deal?

Physical effects of smoking

The pros and cons of smoking

 

 

SMOKING: WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

The Canadian Council for Tobacco Control (CCTC) reports that:

  • Tobacco use is the most significant cause of preventable disease,
    disability, and premature death in Canada responsible for more than
    40,000 deaths every year
  • Tobacco kills three times more Canadians each year than alcohol,
    AID, illegal drugs, car accidents, suicide, and murder – all combined
  • Exposure to second-hand smoke also poses serious risks to heath –
    Adults who live with a smoker have a 30% greater chance of getting
    lung cancer and a 20-30% increased risk of dying of heart disease
    (Something to think about if your roommate/housemate smokes!)
  • Children regularly exposed to tobacco smoke have a higher risk of
    developing various health problems, such as bronchitis, pneumonia, ear
    infections, and asthma

 

  • Although tobacco use is a significant
    health threat, smoking cessation interventions, if delivered in a
    timely and effective manner, significantly reduce the smoker’s risk of
    suffering from smoking-related disease
  • It is difficult to identify any other
    condition that presents such a mix of lethality, prevalence, and
    neglect, despite effective and readily available interventions
  • Tobacco dependence shows many features of a
    chronic disease
  • Although a minority
    of tobacco users achieve permanent abstinence in an initial quit
    attempt, the majority persist in tobacco use for many years and
    typically cycle through multiple periods of relapse and remission

 

Source: Clinical Practice Guideline, Treating tobacco
use and Dependence.
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. June
2000. Pages 7,9.

 

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PHYSICAL EFFECTS OF SMOKING

Cigarette Smoke Contains:

Tars and Particles

  • Clog and irritate the airways and shut down the lung’s natural
    cleaning system
  • Related to cancers of the mouth, throat, lungs, pancreas, kidneys,
    breast, cervix, and prostate
  • The primary cause of chronic bronchitis and emphysema

Nicotine

Causes “the Stress Response”:

  • Faster heart rate
  • Higher blood pressure
  • Narrowing of the blood vessels in the arms and legs
  • Colder hands and feet

Carbon Monoxide

  • The same poisonous gas that is in car exhaust
  • Blocks oxygen from getting into the blood stream
  • Starves all the tissues of the body, causing reactions like
    tiredness or severe shortness of breath
  • Lowers the body’s defense against infection and trauma
  • Up to 2000 chemicals and gases, which are harmful to health

Adapted from: Quit Using Irritating Tobacco (Q.U.I.T) Program,
Health Education Office, University of Pittsburgh

 

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THE PROS & CONS OF SMOKING

PROS CONS
  • Eases tension
  • Improves concentration
  • Enhances pleasure, relaxation
  • Provides social interaction
Immediate

  • Shortness/breath
  • Worsening asthma
  • Pregnancy-related risks
  • Infertility
  • Impotence

Long-Term

  • Heart attacks and stroke
  • Lung and other cancers
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
  • Peripheral vascular disease

 

THE PROS & CONS OF QUITTING

PROS CONS
  • Improved health and longevity
  • Enhanced sense of taste and smell
  • Money saved
  • Improved quality of life
  • Enhanced performance in sports/leisure
    activities
  • Better smelling home, car, breath &
    clothes
  • Setting good examples for children
  • Healthy infants and children
  • Freedom from addiction
  • Withdrawal symptoms
  • Grief reaction
  • Loss of a close friend
  • Boredom
  • Missing the break that smoking provides
  • Losing friends that smoke
  • Loss of enjoyment of smoking-related
    activities
  • Weight gain

Adapted from: Faculty of Medicine, University of
Toronto. Smoking Cessation Guidelines – How to Treat Your Patient’s
tobacco Addiction. Pegasus Healthcare International Publication 2000. Page
7.

 

 

 

 

Funding
for this program has been provided in part by the Government
of Ontario and by Health Canada.
Ce program est financé par
le Gouvernement de l’Ontario et par Santé Canada.

The ‘Leave
The Pack Behind’ name
for this program has been adopted with permission from the
World Health Organization.
Le nom du programme en anglais ‘Leave The Pack Behind’ a été emprunté à la
Journée mondiale sans tabac de 1999 avec la permission
de l’Organisation mondiale de la santé. Copyright,
Design & Legal Disclaimer Information

Leave The Pack Behind!!
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