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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Can a pregnant woman take quit-smoking medications?
If you are pregnant or think you might be pregnant, you should not use any type of smoking cessation medication without first consulting your doctor. These medications may present risks to mothers and their babies. If you have tried all other types of treatments and your doctor believes the risks of continued smoking outweigh the potential risks of the medication, he or she might decide to use one of the approved products. In this case, he or she will decide the type of medication and the dosage that is safest for you and your baby. The doctor will also closely monitor the effects of the medication.
Counseling is the treatment strongly preferred for pregnant women and the one that should be tried first. Several programs are tailored to address the concerns and needs of the pregnant smoker. One program is Great Start, which is sponsored by the American Legacy Foundation and the American Cancer Society.
You can also contact your state tobacco quitline. Quitlines provide free telephone counseling, mail information, and refer you to other local resources.
Resources:
CDC Smoking & Tobacco Use Web Site: Quit Smoking
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/index.htm
Title: The Health Consequences of Smoking: Smoking Among Adults in the United States: Reproductive Health
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2004/highlights/5.htm
National Network of Tobacco Cessation Quitlines
1-800-QUITNOW (1-800-784-8669)
TTY 1-800-332-8615
Smokefree.gov Web Site
http://www.smokefree.gov
Partnership to Help Pregnant Smokers Quit
http://www.helppregnantsmokersquit.org/
Great Start
1-866-66-START
http://www.americanlegacy.org/greatstart/html/quitline.html
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Is it safe to smoke while breastfeeding?
Maternal milk production is less in smokers compared with nonsmokers, and the production decreases as the number of cigarettes smoked per day increases.
The American Academy of Pediatrics stresses that it is always best for a nursing mother to quit smoking. If she can’t quit, they recommend reducing the number of cigarettes smoked during the time she is breastfeeding.
Resources:
CDC Web Site: Breastfeeding
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/index.htm
Title: An Easy Guide to Breastfeeding
Source: DHHS Office on Women's Health
http://www.4women.gov/pub/BF.General.pdf
Title: HHS Blueprint for Action on Breastfeeding
Source: DHHS
http://www.4woman.gov/Breastfeeding/bluprntbk2.pdf
Title: Health Consequences of Smoking: Impact on Unborn Babies, Infants, Children, and Adolescents
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2004/highlights/1.htm
Title: Women and Smoking: Tobacco Use and Reproductive Outcomes
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2001/highlight_outcomes.htm
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How does smoking affect children and adolescents?
In general, young people who smoke are not as healthy as their peers. Smoking by children and adolescents impairs lung growth and reduces lung function. Teenage smokers suffer from shortness of breath almost three times as often as teens who don't smoke, and they produce phlegm more than twice as often. Early smoking is also related to respiratory infections, chronic cough, wheezing, periodontal problems, tooth loss, vision problems, and headaches.
Smoking at a young age increases the risk for lung cancer, and because most people who begin smoking in adolescence continue to smoke as adults, they have an increased risk for many types of cancer that continues to escalate over time. Studies also have shown that early signs of heart disease and stroke can be found in adolescents who smoke.
Resources:
Title: The Health Consequences of Smoking: Impact on Unborn Babies, Infants, Children, and Adolescents
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2004/highlights/1.htm
Title: Children and Secondhand Smoke Exposure--Excerpts from The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of The Surgeon General, 2007
Source: CDC
http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/smokeexposure/report/fullreport.pdf
CDC Healthy Youth Web Site: Tobacco Use
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/tobacco/index.htm
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Are teens who smoke more likely to use other drugs or alcohol?
Young smokers quickly become addicted to nicotine and are at greater risk of using other drugs. Teens who smoke are 3 times more likely than nonsmokers to use alcohol, 8 times more likely to use marijuana, and 22 times more likely to use cocaine. Smoking also is associated with other risky behaviors, such as fighting and engaging in unprotected sex. Although many young smokers believe that smoking helps them deal with stress, teenage smokers are more likely to see a doctor or other health professional for an emotional or psychological complaint than teens who do not smoke.
Resources:
Title: Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People—A Report of the Surgeon General
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_1994/index.htm
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information
1-800-729-6686
TDD: 1-800-487-4889
Español: 1-877-767-8432
http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/
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How are women especially affected by smoking?
Cigarette smoking kills an estimated 178,000 women in the United States annually. The three leading smoking–related causes of death in women are lung cancer, heart disease, and chronic lung disease. Ninety percent of all lung cancer deaths in women smokers are attributable to smoking.
Women who smoke also have an increased risk for other cancers, including cancers of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box), esophagus, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and uterine cervix.
Women who smoke double their risk of developing coronary heart disease and increase by more than tenfold their likelihood of dying from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Cigarette smoking also increases the risk for infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Postmenopausal women who smoke have lower bone density than women who never smoked. Women who smoke have an increased risk for hip fracture compared with never smokers.
Resources:
Title: Smoking Among Adults in the United States: Reproductive Health
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2004/highlights/5.htm
Title: Women and Tobacco
Source CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/women_tobacco.htm
Title: Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2001/index.htm
Title: The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2006/index.htm
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What factors are associated with tobacco use among youth?
Factors associated with youth tobacco use include low socioeconomic status; use and approval of tobacco use by peers or siblings; smoking by parents or guardians; accessibility, availability and price of tobacco products; a perception that tobacco use is normative; lack of parental support or involvement; low levels of academic achievement; lack of skills to resist influences of tobacco use; lower self-image or self-esteem; belief in functional benefits of tobacco use; and lack of self-efficacy to refuse offers of tobacco.
Tobacco use in adolescence also is associated with other health risk behaviors, including higher risk sexual behavior and the use of alcohol or other drugs.
Resources:
Title: Youth and Tobacco Use: Current Estimates
Source: CDC
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/Factsheets/youth_tobacco.htm
CDC Smoking & Tobacco Use Web Site: Youth Tobacco Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/youth/index.htm
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Where can I find information on tobacco use among specific populations?
Information on tobacco use among specific populations that includes racial and ethnic groups, women (including pregnant women and women from specific racial and ethnic groups), and youth is available on the Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site. See Resources for details.
Resources:
• CDC's Smoking & Tobacco Use Web site:
Specific Populations
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/by_topic/specificpop.htm
Youth and Young Adult Data
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/by_topic/youthdata.htm
Surveys
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/surveys/index.htm
State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation (STATE) System
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/statesystem/index.aspx.
The Health Consequences of Smoking Database
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/sgr/
• Other Resources
American Lung Association Web site:
Tobacco Control-–Targeted Populations (fact sheets)
http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=35995
Lung Disease Data at a Glance: Tobacco Use
http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=327861
Title: Cancer Facts and Figures for African Americans 2005-2006
Source: American Cancer Society
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0.asp.
Title: Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph 14: Changing Adolescent Smoking Prevalence, Where It is and Why
Source: National Cancer Institute
http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/tcrb/monographs/14/index.html
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