Doctor encourages smokers to quit
Doctor encourages smokers to quit
To the Editor:
I'd like to encourage everyone to make a fresh start in their lives by actively celebrating the Great American Smokeout on Nov. 20. As a family physician, I see every day how smoking and tobacco have contributed to my patients' ill health — by causing and worsening their cancer, heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and other major health problems.
Being smoke-free is important to our health, as well as your loved ones' health. The American Cancer Society's annual Great American Smokeout can give you, your friends and family a break from cigarettes. The only one who needs that break as much as you is your child. About 43 percent of children in America between the ages of two and 11 exposed to secondhand smoke in their homes suffer more lung illnesses, including bronchitis and pneumonia. They sometimes develop asthma and have twice as many ear infections as children of non-smokers. Infants are especially vulnerable.
Why don't you take the first step on Nov. 20 to improve you and your children's quality of life? It begins as soon as you put out your last cigarette. You can stop smoking — and when you do, you won't be alone. You'll be among thousands of Kansans turning their backs on tobacco, part of one million smokers who quit successfully each year.
With the help of good smoking cessation programs, 20 to 40 percent of Great American Smokeout participants are able to stop smoking and stay off cigarettes for at least one year. Clearly, the numbers are on your side.
So, how do you get started on the road to a smoke-free life? Call the Kansas Quitline tool free at 1-866-KAN-Stop, and talk to cessation counselors. They can offer you advice and if you wish, can call you back to check on your progress. Or you can log onto www.kanstop.org. The Quitline and website are sponsored by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Join a cessation class. The group support and encouragement these groups provide can provide a key to your success. Feel free to bring your loved ones, because most classes encourage family members to attend. You can also make an appointment to talk with your family physician about the latest "quit smoking" aids, especially ones that can ease your immediate, physical withdrawal symptoms.
If you're looking for more reasons to quit smoking, here are a few sobering facts about that little wad of tobacco you light up regularly:
— Approximately half of the 47 million adults in the United States who currently smoke will die prematurely from smoking.
— Tobacco use remains the single most preventable cause of death in the United States.
— The leading cause of cancer death for men and women is lung cancer. This year alone, about 165,500 people in the United States will be diagnosed with it.
— Smoking accounts for more than 80 percent of all lung cancers.
— More than 400,00 Americans die each year from tobacco-related disease.
— Someone dies from smoking every 72 seconds (that's more than 1,000 lives each day).
— Three-fourths of all coronary heart disease cases may be caused by cigarette smoking.
— In fact, an estimated 100,000 people die each year from coronary heart diseases resulting from smoking.
Smoking causes more deaths than alcohol, AIDS, illegal drugs, car accidents, fires, murders and suicides combined. Please don't let your life go up in smoke. Do it for yourself. And do it for you family.
Dr. Brian Billings
District 5 Rep. Of the Kansas Academy of Family Practice
McPherson
