Patient Education Sheet: Tobacco Risks Tobacco Use and Your Health Known Facts:
2. Nicotine changes the way your body uses many drugs because it is also a drug.
3. Each cigarette has 4,000 chemicals and 43 carcinogens (materials that cause cancer and illness).
5. Smoking affects not only your health, but also the health of those around you.
6. Smoking causes cancer but also increases your risk of dying from heart disease.
7. Cigarettes are expensive. You will spend $6,000 more in your lifetime for medical costs and illness than a
Cigarette smoking remains one of the most preventable causes of death in the U.S. Every year 435,000 peoplein the U.S. due from tobacco use. One in five deaths is related to smoking. Cigarettes kill more Americans thanalcohol, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined. More alarming is the fact that people 18 to 24years of age account for 29% of current smokers.
The Questions: Why should I quit smoking?
2. Decreases my risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, cancer, and lung disease such as emphysema.
3. Protects my loved ones from the dangers of secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke increases their risks
of developing heart disease, cancer and emphysema. How Do I Go About Quitting?
1. Understand that quitting will not be easy. Most people try several times before they succeed. It is possible
to quit -- more than 3 million Americans do so annually. You must be determined and ready to quit.
2. Set a date to quit and stick to it.
3. People are most successful when they do the following things:
• Get support and encouragement from loved ones and join a support group. • Find new ways to deal with stress. • Discuss with their physicians the possibility of using medications to assist them in quitting (nicotine
patch, gum, nasal spray, inhaler, or pills such as Zyban).
• Never be afraid to ask for help.
4. Expect to have days that are difficult. You may experience symptoms of withdrawal. Having withdrawal
symptoms is not bad. It means that your body is getting rid of the tobacco chemicals. Withdrawal willusually last a few days to a couple of weeks. Cravings may continue after the withdrawal. Exercise andrelaxation can make many of the symptoms easier to deal with. Symptoms include:
• Anger or irritability• Anxiety or nervousness• Coughing• Constipation (add whole grains, fruits and vegetables to your diet). • Decreased heart rate and blood pressure• Feeling unhappy or depressed• Headaches• Increased hunger and weight gain• Restlessness• Trouble sleeping or fatigue
Remember to take one day at a time. Focus on the short term, such as getting through each day. You may gain weight when you quit smoking, which is normal. The weight can be taken off once you have successfully quit and your withdrawal symptoms have stopped. Reward yourself with the money you are saving by quitting. You will feel better in the long term.
Information obtained from the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Lung Association. __________ revised 8/05
-- printed on 07/11/2007 for WILLIAM PCCTESTKID
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Patient Education Sheet: Tobacco Risks