Yes it is

that time of year again: the Great American Smokeout took

place Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999.

Are you a

smoker who participated this year, or who at least

thought about quitting but never followed through?

Smoking cessation is an extremely difficult task: but a

truly worthwhile endeavor for many reasons.

According

to the American Cancer Society, lung tissue begins to

repair itself at a rapid rate after a person quits. In

fact, after 10 years of not smoking, the risk of lung

cancer is reduced by one-third, and after 15 years the

risk is reduced by 80-90 percent.

Risk

reduction benefits may be more or less, depending on how

long and how heavily you smoked. Nevertheless, at any

rate, health risk reduction is a big plus.

There are

other significant health problems that directly relate to

tobacco use. These include heart disease, atherosclerotic

peripheral vascular disease, intrauterine growth

retardation and low birth weight babies (caused by

smoking while pregnant), cancer of the mouth, esophagus,

and larynx, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

This translates to a 30 percent higher death rate for a

person who smokes a pack a day as compared to a

nonsmoker, and a 140 percent higher death rate for those

who smoke two or more packs a day.

Studies

have also found that nearly 3 percent of the annual lung

cancer death toll (or 4,000 deaths a year) have been

caused by exposure to secondhand smoke. Nonsmoking wives

of husbands who smoke have a 30 percent increased risk of

lung cancer compared with women whose husbands don't

smoke. In addition, children of smokers have a much

greater chance of developing colds, bronchitis and

pneumonia (especially during the first two years of

life), chronic coughs in older children, ear infections

and reduced lung function. In effect, when a smoker quits

he/she not only makes a major positive impact on his/her

personal health: that impact is equally important to the

health of those who share the same air space.

Unfortunately,

statistics also show an increase in the number of women

who smoke: and a correlating increased death rate of 452

percent in the 30 years since women started smoking as

much as men. Likewise, the number of young people age

18-24 who smoke has also increased.

Though

legislation has increased restrictions on cigarette

advertising and made a significant effort to restrict

sales to teens, we still find that in the U.S. at least

400 teens a day become new smokers. What our youth do not

see are the statistics that tell us that if you begin

smoking before age 15, you are 19 times more likely to

die of lung cancer than a nonsmoker is.

Those who

are able to quit serve as a living testimony to youth and

adults alike that smokers can quit, but it is much better

not to start at all.

Because

nicotine addiction is both chemical and

psychological/behavioral in nature, smoking cessation is

not easy. I hope that after reading the information

contained here, you have found some very good reasons to

try. Please don't give up if you experience a few false

starts. Not everyone is able to just say no, throw that

last pack in the garbage, and never smoke again. The

headaches, nausea, difficulty concentrating, general

blahs, and emotional turmoil you feel are very real

withdrawal symptoms.

Some need

the support of a group of people who are going through

the same experience. If this method sounds right for you,

Southern Regional Hospital has a smoking cessation class

called Fresh Start. Call 770-541-1111 and ask for this

class by name to sign up.

If you are

having difficulty quitting, but you respond better to a

more personal, one-to-one approach: speak to your

physician. For example, the family medicine practice of

William C. Adcox, M.D. and BJ Fancher, PA-C, offers

tobacco cessation. They report that they have had great

success using the prescription medication Zyban (a

non-nicotine aid to smoking cessation) with their clients

who want to stop smoking.

There are

many smoking cessation aids on the market, but your

physician should be able to help you decide the best

method for you.

Let this be

the year that you decide why you want to quit, plan how

you will do it, and follow through. Quitting could be the

best decision you'll make for yourself and your loved

ones.