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How to Quit
Smoking
(This article was first printed in Newsweek,
Vol. 146, Issue 14, October 3, 2005.)
Insights from Harvard Medical School
Quick, what's the greatest threat to a smoker's
health? Lung cancer is a good guess, and a wrong
answer. Cigarettes cause 124,000 lung-cancer
deaths in America each year, but they kill even
more people (138,000) via heart disease. Smokers
suffer heart attacks at twice the rate of nonsmokers—and
they're less likely to survive them. Fortunately,
these effects are reversible. Quit smoking, and
your risk of a heart attack drops almost immediately,
returning to that of a never-smoker within five
to 15 years. Breaking the addiction isn't easy—some
40 percent of smokers try each year, and most
of them fail. But a failed attempt is not a final
defeat. What distinguishes successful quitters
is their willingness to keep trying. Smoking
cessation is a marathon, not a 50-yard dash,
and winning takes practice. Here are some strategies
for reaching the finish line.
Think ahead.
It often helps to set a date to quit and to
spend some time preparing yourself for the challenges
you'll encounter. The first ones are physiological.
Tobacco smoke delivers nicotine, a powerful psychoactive
drug, to the nervous system. Most smokers become
irritable, restless, anxious or depressed when
they try to go without it, and many have trouble
concentrating and sleeping. Fortunately, these
withdrawal symptoms are transient. They usually
peak within two to three days and then wane steadily.
So think beyond the discomfort of the moment.
If you can make it to day four, life will get
easier.
Use crutches.
Medical treatment makes the transition easier.
Nicotine administered through patches, gums,
lozenges, inhalers or nasal sprays can alleviate
withdrawal symptoms, and the prescription drug
Zyban (bupropion) can help reduce craving. Studies
suggest that quitters who use any of these aids
double the chances of success. For best results,
you should continue using them for two to three
months.
Change your routine.
Nicotine isn't the only reason quitting smoking
is hard. Cigarettes become a part of a smoker's
everyday routine. If you're accustomed to lighting
up whenever you have a cup of coffee, finish
a meal or encounter a stressful situation, you
may need to recondition yourself. Simple tricks
can help you sidestep temptation. Some people
try switching from coffee to tea for a while,
or using a toothpick as an after-dinner pacifier.
New rituals are easy to adopt, and they quickly
become old ones.
Seek support.
Quitting is easier if you have people to lean
on, so don't go it alone. Friends, co-workers
and family members can provide much-needed moral
support, especially if they've been through the
process themselves. Physicians and psychotherapists
can offer valuable counseling. And though smoking-cessation
programs can't guarantee results, they can increase
your chances of success. Free information and
counseling are now available nationwide at 800-QUIT-NOW
or through Web sites such as smokefree.gov, cdc.gov/tobacco
and quitnet.com.
Smoking is a powerful addiction, but it can
be beat.
Former smokers now outnumber current ones in
this country, and indoor-smoking bans are giving
people new incentives to quit. Medicines now
in development could soon make smoking cessation
easier, but no one should wait for them. Today's
treatments are effective, and too few smokers
are benefiting from them.
By Nancy Rigotti, M.D.
Dr. Rigotti, an associate professor of medicine
at Harvard Medical School, directs the Tobacco
Research and Treatment Center at Massachusetts
General Hospital.
(This article was first printed in Newsweek,
Vol. 146, Issue 14, October 3, 2005.)
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