Great American Smokeout November 21

Thursday, November 21st is the American Cancer Society’s 38th Great American Smokeout and encourages smokers to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day. By quitting, even for one day, smokers will be taking an important step towards a healthier life—one that can lead to reducing cancer risk. The initiative has helped to spotlight the dangers of tobacco use, the importance and the challenges of quitting and is designed to motivate and empower smokers with personalized tools, tips and support to help them succeed in quitting smoking or the use of smokeless tobacco products.

The idea for the Great American Smokeout grew out of a 1971 event in Randolph, Massachusetts in which Arthur P. Mullaney asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money that would have spent on cigarettes to a high school scholarship fund. In 1974, Lynn R. Smith, editor of the Monticello Times in Minnesota, spearheaded the state’s first D-Day, or Don’t Smoke Day. The idea caught on, and on November 18, 1976, the California Division of the American Cancer Society succeeded in getting nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. That California event marked the first Great American Smokeout, which went nationwide in 1977.

Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and suicides COMBINED! Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, half of those who continue to smoke will die from smoking-related diseases and each year tobacco use is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths or about 443,000 premature deaths. An estimated 8.6 million people suffer from chronic conditions related to smoking such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and cardiovascular disease.

Smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths and 87% of lung cancer deaths. The risk of lung cancer is just as high in smokers of “light” or “low-tar” yield cigarettes as in those who smoke “regular” or “full-flavored” products. In 2011, there were approximately 43.8 million smokers, about 2 million fewer in 2005. In addition, about 3,400 nonsmoking adults die of lung cancer each year from exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke causes an estimated 46,000 deaths annually from heart disease in people who are not current smokers.

Tobacco and secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, metals, and gases. Hundreds of those are toxic and at least 69 are cancer causing. Smoking damages nearly every organ in the human body and individuals who smoke risk developing the following conditions or illnesses: blindness (macular degeneration), impaired sense of smell, lip, mouth, throat, larynx, pharynx, esophageal, tracheal, lung, bronchus, gastric, colon, pancreatic, and cervical cancers, impaired sense of taste, halitosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, heart disease, early menopause, reduced fertility, infertility and impotence.

There are many benefits for quitting smoking and the positive effects could be felt in as little as 20 minutes after a smoker’s last cigarette: 20 minutes after quitting a person’s heart rate and blood pressure drop. 12 hours after quitting, a person’s carbon monoxide levels in their blood drop to normal. 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting, a person’s circulation improves and lung function increases. 1 to 9 months after quitting, a person’s coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs and reduce the risk of infection.

1 year after quitting, a person’s risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s. 5 years after quitting, a person’s stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5 to 15 years after quitting. 10 years after quitting, a person’s lung cancer death rate is about half that of a person who continues smoking.  The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix and pancreas decreases, too. 15 years after quitting, a person’s risk of coronary heart disease is the same as a nonsmoker’s.  

Here are some tips to help smokers get through the Great American Smokeout, or any day without cigarettes: Prepare for life as a nonsmoker by removing all cigarette related material (ashtrays, cigarettes, cigarette butts and matches you use for lighting up, etc.) from your home and office—it will help avoid temptation.

Practice the five D’s: o   DELAY reaching for a cigarette and wait 5-15 minutes before lighting up; the urge will pass, o   DRINK six to eight glasses of water to help flush nicotine from your system and reduce the intensity of withdrawal symptoms, o   DO SOMETHING ELSE to get your mind off the craving (call a friend; take a brisk walk instead of a coffee break, ride a bike, chew on sugarless gum, carrot sticks, or a straw.) o   DEEP BREATHING to relieve stress or emotional tension, o   DIAL the phone to call a support person to discuss your feelings can help you get your mind off cigarettes.  Tell your friends and family that you are quitting and ask for their support.

Try to avoid situations that encourage smoking Try to avoid situations that encourage smoking.  If you can’t, practice telling people you’ve just quit or that you’re a non-smoker.  Warn smoking friends that you are experiencing withdrawal symptoms and need to avoid them for a few days. Change your routines.  If you always light up when you have coffee, drink tea, water or juice instead.  If you always smoked while watching the evening news, read the paper.

Smokers who would like quitting assistance in the form of free telephone counseling on the Great American Smokeout or other days during the year can contact New Jersey Quitline at 1-866-NJ-STOPS or 1-866-657-8677 seven days a week.  For additional tobacco cessation information, smokers can contact Mom’s Quit Connection at their toll-free number of 888-545-5191.   For more information on The Great American Smokeout, visit www.cancer.org,.  The Great American Smokeout is always held on the third Thursday in November or the Thursday before Thanksgiving.  By going “cold turkey” and quitting smoking successfully on the Great American Smokeout, there will be a special reason to be thankful this year!