BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. — The American Cancer Society, United Hospital Center and other organizations encouraged smokers to kick their habit Thursday as part of the Great American Smokeout.
“If somebody could quit for one day, then they could realize that maybe they could quit for a lifetime,” said Mary Lough, Health System Manager with the American Cancer Society. “A lot of people have just picked today as their starting day and decide ‘You know what, I made it and I can do two days and then I can do three days.’ Before you know it, they’ve quit for a lifetime.”
Approximately 42 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, according to the ACS, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the country.
Cigarette smoking can put individuals at serious risk for many types of cancer, including cancers of the lip, oral cavity, pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, larynx, lung, uterine cervix, urinary bladder and kidney.
With so many different aspects of the body affected by tobacco use, a host of organizations have reached out to and joined the ACS for the event.
“We work with all these different people and places to try to make sure we can reach as large a crowd as we can,” Lough said. “Everybody has resources and different resource, and so as we work together, then we’re going to make a difference.”
One such group with the ACS at the informational forum held at UHC Thursday was the American Lung Association.
“We have a real problem in this state with our smoking rate,” said Chantal Fields, Area Director for the ALA. “Not just do we have 28 percent of our adult population smoking, we also have a lot of ex-smokers in our state. So, we know our [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] numbers are going to go up.”
Beyond cancer and COPD, tobacco use doubles the risk of having a stroke and causes many debilitating effects on both the circulatory and respiratory systems.
However, the focus was not only on the harm of smoking, but also on how quitting can improve one’s health.
“Within hours of stopping smoking, your blood pressure and heart rate can return to normal,” said Cheryl Farley, director of cardiac and pulmonary rehab at UHC. “Within 12 hours, your carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal. They say within 15 years, your risk for heart disease and cancer is slightly higher than if you never smoked.”
Other benefits of quitting include:
– Two weeks to three months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
– One to nine months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
– One year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.
– Five years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker five to 15 years after quitting.
– Ten years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a person who continues smoking. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decreases, too.
With all the resources available Thursday, Lough hoped that people would take the step to quit for at least the day.
“You’re going to feel so much better, you’re food’s going to taste better, you’re going to have so much more energy and you have a chance to live longer. That’s our goal, for people to live longer.”
More resources on quitting can be found at the ACS’s website, as well as the ALA’s website.