Tobacco is the single greatest cause of multiple diseases and premature deaths in the USA today. It kills more Americans each year than alcohol, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fire and AIDS combined.
Smoking cigarettes affects many aspects of health. Tobacco smoke contains about 7000 chemicals, including low concentrations of such strong poisons as ammonia, cyanide, arsenic and formaldehyde. It also contains 69 carcinogens – substances that are known to cause cancers in humans. Direct association has been established between smoking and cancers of the lung, mouth, nose, throat, larynx, esophagus, colon and rectum, stomach, pancreas, cervix, bladder, kidney and blood.
The Smoking Cessation Team at Flushing Hospital Medical Center suggest five common sense steps to provide the best chance for quitting smoking for good:
- Get ready: set a quit date and throw out all cigarettes and ashtrays from your home.
- Get support: tell your family, friends and doctor about quitting plans; search the internet for advice.
- Learn new behaviors: distract yourself from the urge to smoke; exercise or go for a walk.
- Get medication: combining medication like nicotine patches or Zyban with behavioral adaptation and family support quadruples your chances of success.
- Be prepared for relapse and difficult situations– most people try to quit a few times before succeeding.
If you would like to learn more about quitting smoking call the Flushing Hospital Medical Center’s Smoking Cessation Team at 718-670-3146.
All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter. PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.