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Smoking Cessation
Patient's Corner
What Do Patients
Need To
Know?
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death
and disease in the U.S. Each year, about 440,000
Americans die of diseases related to smoking. At any
given time, 70% of all smokers will say that they
want to quit. But even though they may really want
to quit, the majority of smokers find that it is
very difficult to quit. Even the most motivated
smoker may find that they try to quit 5 or 6 times
before they are finally able to quit. But over 3
milion Americans quit every year and the Department
of Veterans Affairs is committed to doing everything
to support veterans as they attempt to quit. Please
remember that quitting smoking may be one of the
hardest things that you ever have to do, but you
don’t have to do it alone.
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Why Should I Quit?
No matter how old you are, quitting smoking is
the single most effective thing you can do to
improve your health. It is never too late to quit.
In fact, older smokers are more likely to be
successful than younger smokers.
Tobacco use kills more than 440,000 Americans
each year- - - more than alcohol, cocaine, heroin,
homicide, suicide, car accidents, and HIV/AIDS
combined.
Smokers are also at higher risk for the
following:
- Increased depression and anxiety
- A shorter life (as smokers die 13 -15 years
earlier)
- Lung disease, such as bronchitis or
emphysema
- Cancers of the lung, mouth, esophagus,
stomach, pancreas, cervix, kidney, and bladder
- Heart disease and stroke
- Sexual impotence
and infertility
- Cataracts, skin wrinkling, and skin
discoloration
- Increased use of other drugs and alcohol
- Complicated pregnancies
Smoking doesn’t kill just smokers.
Approximately
50,000 Americans die each year as a result of
breathing other people’s smoke. The recent U.S.
Surgeon General Report on the health effects of
secondhand smokers concluded that secondhand smoke
causes early death and disease in children and
adults who do not smoke. The non-smoking spouse of a
smoker is more likely to have heart disease or lung
cancer than if they were not exposed to smoke in the
home. Infants and children who are exposed to smoke
are at higher risk for dangerous diseases such as
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), severe
respiratory illnesses, ear infections, and asthma.
And, the most effective way to make sure that your
children never smoke is to not smoke. You can help
save the health of those you love by quitting
smoking.
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How Do I Quit? – The Basics
Of Just What Works.
Talk to your health care provider today to get
basic information about how to quit. VA providers
are working hard to make sure that any tobacco user
who wants effective treatment can get it in our
health care system. We know that brief counseling is
helpful as are medications to help with smoking
cessation. Your provider may talk to you briefly
about setting a date to quit and preparing. He or
she should also provide you with a prescription for
nicotine replacement therapy, such as the nicotine
patch or gum, or other medications. These will all
help to reduce your cravings. This is important as
using these medications will double or triple your
chances of successfully quitting.
In addition to working with your VA health care
provider, there are things you can do to get ready
to quit:
- Set a quit date.
- Talk to your friends and family, and your
co-workers about getting support.
- Anticipate challenges to trying to quit,
particularly for the first few days.
- Review your past attempts at quitting. What
worked? What didn’t?
- Keep in mind all the reasons for quitting that
are most important to you.
There are other things to do that some have also
found to be helpful:
- Remember to remove all cigarettes, lighters,
and ashtrays from your home, car, and work.
- Make sure that you get enough rest and keep
plenty of healthy snacks available.
- You may also want to begin a regular
exercise program.
- Put the money that you would normally spend
on cigarettes or tobacco in a jar and plan to
spend that one something that you can work
towards to reward yourself.
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What Is Available Through My VA
Medical Center?
You can talk with your provider about getting brief
counseling to help you quit. In addition, you receive a
prescription for the nicotine gum, patch, lozenge or
another medication for smoking cessation, bupropion. You
can also ask for a referral to a Smoking Cessation
Clinic if you would like to receive one. Smoking
Cessation Clinics may have group or individual
counseling if you would prefer that.
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Where I Can Learn More About
How To Quit And Stay Quit?
There are a number of websites that you can visit
to learn more about quitting tobacco use.
Here are just a few:
* External Link Disclaimer:
All the links marked with asterisk ( * ) are External links. By clicking on
these links, you will leave the Department of Veterans Affairs Website. VA does
not endorse and is not responsible for the content of the linked website. Links
will open in a new browser window.
Smokefree.gov
http://www.smokefree.gov/*
Center for Disease Control
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/*
- see under ‘How to Quit’
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/*
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
http://www.ahrq.gov/path/tobacco.htm*
- see ‘Help for
Tobacco Users’
The National Cancer Institute
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/tobacco*
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