Tobacco is a plant grown for its leaves, which are smoked, chewed, or sniffed for a variety of effects. It is considered an addictive substance because it contains the chemical nicotine.  In addition to nicotine, tobacco contains over 19 known cancer-causing chemicals (most are collectively known as "tar") and more than 4,000 other chemicals including acetone, ammonia, carbon monoxide, cyanide, methane, propane, and butane.

• Tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.  Each year approximately 440,000 people (1 in 5), die of an illness caused by smoking cigarettes. 
• More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.
• All tobacco products are harmful. Smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco, snus, and snuff) is addictive, contains dozens of cancer-causing agents, and may cause oral cancer and other diseases.
• Over 38 million people in the United States have successfully quit smoking. Yet there are still around 50 million Americans who smoke. The majority say they would like to quit. 

HEALTH RISKS
There are many reasons to quit using tobacco. Knowing the serious health risks may help motivate you to quit. When used over a long period, tobacco and related chemicals such as tar and nicotine can increase your risk of:

• Blood clots, which may lead to aneurysms and strokes
• Cancer (especially in the lung, mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, and cervix)
• Coronary artery disease, including angina and heart attacks
• Decreased ability to taste and smell
• Delayed wound healing
• High blood pressure
• Lung problems such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis
• Pregnancy-related problems, including miscarriage, premature labor, low birth weight, and risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
• Tooth and gum diseases

You have the same risks if you use smokeless tobacco (chewing tobacco, snuff, etc.) for a long time.  Some people who want to stop smoking, but who still crave the nicotine, turn to smokeless tobacco wrongly thinking that they are doing something good for themselves.  Smokeless tobacco users have a 50 times greater risk for mouth cancer than those who do not use such products.

 

THE EFFECTS OF NICOTINE

• Nicotine acts as both a stimulant and depressant on your body. It increases your bowel activity, saliva, and bronchial secretions. It stimulates the nervous system and may cause tremors in the inexperienced user, or even convulsions with high doses.
• After stimulation, there's a phase that depresses the muscles in your airways. As a euphoric agent, nicotine causes relaxation from stressful situations. On average, tobacco increases your heart rate 10 to 20 beats per minute, and it increases your blood pressure reading by 5 to 10 mmHg (because it constricts the blood vessels).
• Nicotine may also cause sweating, nausea, and diarrhea. Nicotine elevates the blood level of glucose (blood sugar) and increases insulin production. Nicotine also tends to enhance platelet aggregation, which may lead to blood clots.
• Nicotine temporarily stimulates memory and alertness. People who use tobacco frequently depend on it to help them accomplish certain tasks at specific levels of performance. Nicotine also tends to be an appetite suppressant. (For this reason, fear of weight gain also influences the willingness of some people to stop smoking.)
• Tobacco is highly addictive. It is considered mood and behavior altering. Tobacco is believed to have an addictive potential comparable to alcohol, cocaine, and morphine.

 

SECONDHAND SMOKE
Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers.  This mixture contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, more than 40 of which are known to cause cancer in humans or animals, and many of which are strong irritants, including formaldehyde, cyanide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and nicotine.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concluded that environmental tobacco smoke is a human lung carcinogen, responsible for approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths annually in U.S. nonsmokers.

Those who are regularly around the smoke of others (secondhand smoke) have a higher risk of:

• Coronary artery disease and heart attack
• Lung cancer
• Acute respiratory effects; sudden and severe reactions, including those involving the eye, nose, throat, and lower respiratory tract; can trigger asthma attach in children with asthma.
• Infants and children that are exposed regularly to secondhand smoke are at risk of:
• Asthma
• Infections, including virus-caused upper respiratory infections, ear infections, and pneumonia
• Lungs that do not work as well (poor lung function)
• Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

THE BENEFITS OF QUITTING

Within 20 minutes of quitting - your blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal and the
                                                                         temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal.

Within 8 hours of quitting - your carbon monoxide levels drop and your oxygen levels
                                                                 increase, both to normal levels.

Within 24 hours of quitting - your risk of a sudden heart attack decreases.

Within 48 hours of quitting - nerve endings begin to regenerate and your senses of smell
                                                                   and taste begin to return to normal.

Within 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting - your circulation improves and walking becomes
                                                                                                easier; even your lung function increases up
                                                                                                to 30%.

Within 1 to 9 months of quitting - your overall energy typically increases and symptoms like
                                                                               coughing, nasal congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath
                                                                               diminish; also, the small hairlike projections lining your lower
                                                                               airways begin to function normally. This increases your
                                                                               lungs' ability to handle mucus, clean the airways, and reduce
                                                                               infections.

Within 1 year of quitting - your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone still
                                                              using tobacco.

Within 5 years of quitting - the lung cancer death rate decreases by nearly 50% compared
                                                                to one pack/day smokers; the risk of cancer of the mouth is  
                                                                half that of a tobacco user.

Within 10 years of quitting - your lung cancer death rate becomes similar to that of someone who
                                                                   never smoked; precancerous cells are replaced with normal cells;
                                                                   your risk of stroke is lowered, possibly to that of a nonuser; your
                                                                   risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and
                                                                   pancreas all go down.

 

TIME TO QUIT
Quitting smoking is the single most significant lifestyle change you can make to improve your health both today and tomorrow.  There are a lot of ways to quit smoking and many resources to help you.  Family members, friends, and coworkers may be supportive or encouraging, but the desire and commitment to quit must be your own.  Most people who have been able to successfully quit smoking made at least one unsuccessful attempt in the past. Try not to view past attempts to quit as failures, but rather as learning experiences.

Feel ready to quit? Here are some tips:

• List the reasons you want to quit. Include both short- and long-term benefits.
• Ask your health care provider for help. Find out whether prescription medications might help. Also ask about nicotine patches, gum, and sprays.
• Ask your family, friends, and coworkers for support.
• Set a quit date, and get rid of all of your cigarettes by that date.
• Quit completely -- cold turkey.
• Get more exercise. It relieves the urge to smoke.
• Learn self-hypnosis from a qualified practitioner. This helps some people.
• Make a plan about what you will do, instead of smoking, when stressed or other times you have the urge for tobacco. Be as specific as possible.
• Avoid smoke-filled settings and situations in which you are more likely to smoke.

Like any addiction, quitting tobacco is difficult, particularly if you are acting alone. If you join smoking cessation programs, you have a much better chance of success. Such programs are offered by hospitals, health departments, community centers, and work sites.  A list of local tobacco cessation resources is available here.  The best quit-smoking programs combine multiple strategies, including peer support and ways to overcome potential relapse situations. Counseling by telephone can be a very helpful reinforcement, even as effective as face-to-face counseling.  If you aren't successful the first time, simply look at what occurred or what didn't work, develop new strategies, and try again. Many attempts are often necessary to finally "beat the habit."

Click here for a list of local tobacco cessation resources

 

How can I handle the stress of not smoking?   http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1196360035013SmokingStress.pdf

How can I avoid gaining weight when I stop smoking?  http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1196360291140SmokingWeight.pdf

 

* U.S. Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health     
    http://tobaccofree.nih.gov/benefits.htm

* American Heart Association  http://www.americanheart.org

* American Cancer Society  http://www.cancer.org

* Rhode Island Department of Health Tobacco Control Program   
    http://www.health.ri.gov/tobacco/index.php