6 • Wednesday, November 24, 2021 • Health Watch
American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout By Dr. Graham A. Colditz
major influence on quality of life and daily living. This includes rheumatoid Though it doesn’t arthritis, cataracts and often make headlines macular degeneration, these days, it’s hard to which is a common cause overstate how important of severe vision loss in quitting smoking is people older than to health — and in age 50. If that’s ways many people not enough, smokmay not be aware ing is also linked of. to tooth loss, slowSmoking impacts er healing of cuts, almost every organ trouble getting in the body to some Colditz pregnant and erecdegree. It’s the tile dysfunction. main cause of lung The good news cancer, of course, but is, quitting smoking it also causes 14 other lowers the risk of nearcancers, including breast, ly all of these diseases colon, cervical and and conditions — and, kidney cancers. It also over time, the risk of greatly increases the risk some drop to near that of heart disease, stroke, of a person who’s never emphysema and chronic smoked. bronchitis. But you don’t need If you’re ready to quit to wait years to see — or even ready to just benefits. Minutes after start thinking about quit- your last cigarette, your ting — November can be heart rate drops. Then, a great month to do it. in the next several days, The American Cancer carbon monoxide levels Society’s Great American in your blood fall to that Smokeout is Thursday. of nonsmokers. And The annual event gives within months, coughing smokers a target date to and shortness of breath quit, while highlighting improve. resources at cancer.org While finding reasons for becoming and staying to quit isn’t hard, actualtobacco-free. ly doing it can be — as Overall, smokers die a many smokers who’ve decade or more earlier tried to quit know. than those who’ve never The nicotine in tobacsmoked. co is addictive, and that Smoking also raises makes smoking different the risk of conditions than many other behavthat might seem less seri- iors we might try to ous, but that can have a change. Siteman Cancer Center
At the same time, quitting is far from impossible. Thousands of smokers stop for good every day. And getting help quitting can double, and maybe even triple, the chances of success. But only a minority of smokers actually take full advantage of approaches we know help with quitting. For most smokers, this means talking to a healthcare professional about a combination of
medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and behavioral support. Medications can include nicotine replacement therapy, like, patches or gum, or other drugs, like, bupropion. Among its other benefits, behavioral support can help smokers learn to work through barriers to staying smoke-free, like cravings and triggers that can lead to urges to smoke. Support can come in
many different forms, including in-person or virtual classes, as well as text-messaging and other programs. If you’re a smoker who wants to quit, you’re in good company. Nearly 70% of smokers feel the same way, and more than half have tried to quit in the past year. Why not celebrate these last couple months of the year by doing something good for your health? Yes, quitting is
hard. But you can do it. It’s your health. Take control. Dr. Graham A. Colditz, associate director of prevention and control at Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is an internationally recognized leader in cancer prevention and the creator of the free prevention tool yourdiseaserisk.com.
