Passive Smoking..

What To Expect

Some friends, especially those who are smokers themselves, may not be supportive of your efforts to cut down or quit. Also, they may not understand how much impact their behavior can have on your efforts to quit.
The changes you intend to make may disturb friends and family members who are smokers.
Friends may feel that your efforts to quit smoking will put a strain on your friendship. It will be tempting to join others for routine smoke breaks.
Did You Know?

You may find that you don’t want to smoke just because you see someone else smoking. Rather, your desire to smoke may be triggered by something special about the situation. For example, being around the people you usually smoked with could trigger the urge to smoke.
What To Do

Ask others to help you in your quit attempt. Give them specific examples of things that are helpful (such as not smoking around you) and things that are not helpful (like asking you to buy cigarettes for them).
Post a small “No Smoking” sign by your front door. Provide an outside area where smokers may go if they wish to smoke.
If you are in a group and others light up, excuse yourself, and don’t return until they have finished.
Do not buy, carry, light, or hold cigarettes for others.
Try not to get angry if family, friends, or coworkers hassle you about quitting.
Nicotine and Your Body and Mind

You may want to analyze situations in which watching others smoke triggers your urge to smoke. Figure out what it is about that situation that makes you want to smoke.
Many studies have reported that smoking may make you feel happier, more alert, and not as anxious. These good feelings may make you want to smoke. Also, you may associate these feelings with being around other smokers.
When you quit, you may feel saddened by the loss of these good feelings; being around smokers may make you feel even sadder. Try not to feel sad; think of what you’ve gained by quitting.
Related Notes

Once you pinpoint high-risk “trigger” situations, you can start to handle them rationally. Nicotine cravings may be reduced by using nicotine replacement products, which deliver small, steady doses of nicotine into the body. Nicotine replacement patches, gum, lozenges, nasal spray, and inhaler appear to be equally effective. Buproprion pills (which don’t contain nicotine) also help relieve withdrawal symptoms.

Quitting Tobacco: Facing the Morning ... Without Smoking

What To Expect

Expect that your morning coffee will not taste the same without a cigarette.
Did You Know?

For many smokers, lighting up is the first event of the day. Part of many people’s dependence on cigarettes evolves from a routine built mostly on making opportunities to smoke. The morning can set the tone for the rest of the day.
What To Do

Plan a different wake-up routine.
Take your attention off smoking right away.
Be sure no cigarettes are available.
Begin each day with deep breathing and one or more glasses of water.
Make a list of early morning triggers, and avoid them.
Begin each day with a preplanned activity that will keep you busy for an hour or more. It will keep your mind and body busy so that you don’t think about smoking.
Nicotine and Your Body and Mind

After 6 to 8 hours of sleep, your nicotine level drops and your body develops a need for a quick boost of nicotine when you wake up.
Your body has become dependent on nicotine. Your mind must be ready to overcome this physical need. Before you go to sleep, make a list of things you need to avoid in the morning that will make you want to smoke. Place this list where you used to place your cigarettes.
Related Notes

Once you pinpoint high-risk situations that trigger the urge to smoke, you can start to handle such situations rationally. Waking up in the morning and starting your normal routine provides plenty of triggers to tempt you to smoke. Nicotine cravings may be reduced by using nicotine replacement products, which deliver small, steady doses of nicotine into the body. Nicotine replacement patches, gum, lozenges, nasal spray, and inhaler appear to be equally effective. Buproprion pills (which don’t contain nicotine) also help relieve withdrawal symptoms.

What about combining medications?
Some health care providers suggest that combining the nicotine patch with nicotine gum or nicotine nasal spray may work better than using a single type of nicotine replacement therapy (14, 15). Nicotine gum in combination with nicotine patch therapy may also reduce withdrawal symptoms better than either medication alone. The patch provides a base level of nicotine, and the additional products can deliver extra nicotine when cravings or withdrawal symptoms occur (15). Another option is the combination of bupropion and nicotine patch therapy (15). People who think they may benefit from combining medications should consult with their health care provider before making a decision.

Are there alternative methods to help people quit smoking?
Some people claim that alternative approaches such as hypnosis, acupuncture, acupressure, laser therapy, or electrostimulation may help reduce the symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawal. However, clinical studies have not shown that these alternative approaches help people quit smoking (20).

What if a person smokes again after quitting?
Many smokers find it difficult to quit. People commonly quit smoking and then find themselves smoking again, especially in the first few weeks or months after quitting. People who smoke after quitting should try again to quit. Most people find that they need to persist in their attempts to quit smoking before they quit for good. It may take four or more attempts before smokers are able to quit for good (15). People who stop smoking for 3 months or longer have an excellent chance of remaining cigarette free for the rest of their lives (21).

How do I find agencies and organizations that help people quit smoking?
A number of agencies and organizations provide information and materials about where to find help to quit smoking. State and local health agencies often have information about community programs to help people quit smoking. The local or county government section in the phone book (blue pages) has current phone numbers for health agencies. Information to help people quit smoking is also available through community hospitals, the yellow pages (under "drug abuse and addiction"), public libraries, health maintenance organizations, health fairs, bookstores, and community quitlines.

Several federal agencies and national organizations provide information about how to quit smoking.

Quitting Smoking: Why To Quit and How To Get Help

Does quitting smoking lower the risk of cancer?

Quitting smoking substantially reduces the risk of developing and dying from cancer, and this benefit increases the longer a person remains smoke free. However, even after many years of not smoking, the risk of lung cancer in former smokers remains higher than in people who have never smoked (1).

The risk of premature death and the chance of developing cancer due to cigarettes depend on the number of years of smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, the age at which smoking began, and the presence or absence of illness at the time of quitting. For people who have already developed cancer, quitting smoking reduces the risk of developing a second cancer (9, 10).

Should someone already diagnosed with cancer bother to quit smoking?

Yes. There are many reasons that people diagnosed with cancer should quit smoking. For those having surgery or other treatments, quitting smoking helps improve the body’s ability to heal and respond to the cancer treatment, and it lowers the risk of pneumonia and respiratory failure (1, 9). Also, quitting smoking may lower the risk of the cancer returning or a second cancer forming (9, 10).

What are some of the challenges associated with quitting smoking?

Quitting smoking may cause short-term problems, especially for those who have smoked a large number of cigarettes for a long period of time:

Feeling sad or anxious: People who quit smoking are likely to feel depressed, anxious, irritable, and restless, and may have difficulty sleeping or concentrating.
Gaining weight: Increased appetite is a common withdrawal symptom after quitting smoking, and studies show that people who quit smoking increase their food intake (11). Although most smokers gain less than 10 pounds, for some people the weight gain can be troublesome (12). Regular physical activity can help people maintain a healthy weight.
Depression, anxiety, restlessness, weight gain, and other problems are symptoms of nicotine withdrawal (11). Many people find that nicotine replacement products and other medicines may relieve these problems (see Questions 10 and 11). However, even without medication, withdrawal symptoms and other problems do subside over time. It helps to keep in mind that people who kick the smoking habit have the opportunity for a healthier future.
How can I help someone I know quit smoking?

It’s understandable to be concerned about someone you know who currently smokes. It’s important to find out if this person wants to quit smoking. Most smokers say they want to quit. If they don’t want to quit, try to find out why.

Here are some things you can do to help:

Express things in terms of your own concern about the smoker’s health ("I’m worried about...").
Acknowledge that the smoker may get something out of smoking and may find it difficult to quit.
Be encouraging and express your faith that the smoker can quit for good.
Suggest a specific action, such as calling a smoking quitline, for help in quitting smoking.
Ask the smoker for ways you can provide support.
Here are two things you should not do:

Don’t send quit smoking materials to smokers unless they ask for them.
Don’t criticize, nag, or remind the smoker about past failures.

Quitting Smoking: Why To Quit and How To Get Help?

What health problems are caused by smoking?
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and diminishes a person’s overall health. Smoking is a leading cause of cancer and of death from cancer. It causes cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx (voice box), mouth, throat, kidney, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and cervix, as well as acute myeloid leukemia (1).

Smoking also causes heart disease, stroke, lung disease (chronic bronchitis and emphysema), hip fractures, and cataracts. Smokers are at higher risk of developing pneumonia and other airway infections (1).

A pregnant smoker is at higher risk of having her baby born too early and with an abnormally low weight. A woman who smokes during or after pregnancy increases her infant’s risk of death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) (1).

Millions of Americans have health problems caused by smoking. Cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke cause an estimated average of 438,000 premature deaths each year in the United States. Of these premature deaths, about 40 percent are from cancer, 35 percent are from heart disease and stroke, and 25 percent are from lung disease (2). Smoking is the leading cause of premature, preventable death in this country.

Regardless of their age, smokers can substantially reduce their risk of disease, including cancer, by quitting.

Does tobacco smoke contain harmful chemicals?
Yes. Tobacco smoke contains chemicals that are harmful to both smokers and nonsmokers. Breathing even a little tobacco smoke can be harmful (1, 3). Of the 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful (4, 5). The toxic chemicals found in smoke include hydrogen cyanide (used in chemical weapons), carbon monoxide (found in car exhaust), formaldehyde (used as an embalming fluid), ammonia (used in household cleaners), and toluene (found in paint thinners).

Of the 250 known harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke, more than 50 have been found to cause cancer. These chemicals include (4, 5):

arsenic (a heavy metal toxin)
benzene (a chemical found in gasoline)
beryllium (a toxic metal)
cadmium (a metal used in batteries)
chromium (a metallic element)
ethylene oxide (a chemical used to sterilize medical devices)
nickel (a metallic element)
polonium-210 (a chemical element that gives off radiation)
vinyl chloride (a toxic substance used in plastics manufacture)

What are the immediate benefits of quitting smoking?

The immediate health benefits of quitting smoking are substantial. Heart rate and blood pressure, which were abnormally high while smoking, begin to return to normal. Within a few hours, the level of carbon monoxide in the blood begins to decline. (Carbon monoxide, a colorless, odorless gas found in cigarette smoke, reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen.) Within a few weeks, people who quit smoking have improved circulation, don’t produce as much phlegm, and don’t cough or wheeze as often. Within several months of quitting, people can expect significant improvements in lung function (6).

What are the long-term benefits of quitting smoking?

Quitting smoking reduces the risk of cancer and other diseases, such as heart disease and lung disease, caused by smoking. People who quit smoking, regardless of their age, are less likely than those who continue to smoke to die from smoking-related illness. Studies have shown that quitting at about age 30 reduces the chance of dying from smoking-related diseases by more than 90 percent (7, 8). People who quit at about age 50 reduce their risk of dying prematurely by 50 percent compared with those who continue to smoke (8). Even people who quit at about age 60 or older live longer than those who continue to smoke (8).