The benefits of talking to a health care professional 

         Thinking of quitting smoking? Want to more than DOUBLE these chances? Quitting smoking can be made easier if you speak with a health care professional. If you talk to a doctor, nurse or a pharmacist, they can provide you with a lot of information about different options in regards to quitting that you may not be able to get anywhere else. A doctor could also provide extra support, which would increase your likelihood of quitting, by following up with you after your decision to quit.

         Not sure how to talk to a health care professional? It may be best to do this in various appointments! You can talk to health care professionals about different things including what happened when you previously tried to quit, what you want to do this time, different ways you can cope with nicotine withdrawal, and more!

         One great thing about being a student here at UW is that you can find a health care professional right here on campus! You can visit health services, see your family doctor or head to a pharmacy. Another amazing thing is that these appointments with physicians in Ontario (even those on campus) are FREE! They are covered by OHIP if you are a resident in Ontario. This is also the case with advice from a pharmacist. A fee may be charged by other health professionals.

         So have a chat with a health care professional - it may be what it takes to make your quitting attempt a successful one!

Reference:

http://www.leavethepackbehind.org/your_way_hp.php

Smokeless Tobacco: Safer than Cigarettes? 

Dipping tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, snus – these are a few of the different types of smokeless tobacco products used by people every day.  We always hear about cigarettes and the dangers, but rarely do the harmful effects of smokeless tobacco come to light.  In India, two of every five deaths are caused by smokeless tobacco, in adults over 30 years old.  Globally, 12% of deaths in adults 30 years and older are due to smokeless tobacco, and in some countries the death toll is as high as 30%!  This statistic is shocking, and truly tells a different story than the fun activity portrayed by some athletes in North America. 

Smokeless tobacco is prominent among young people too!  It is estimated that 20% of teen boys and 2% of teen girls use smokeless tobacco.  Just like cigarettes, using smokeless tobacco products is highly addictive and has detrimental effects.  Often, the reason young adult males are interested in smokeless tobacco is because some athletes use it – many of which has careers and lives that ended tragically due to smokeless tobacco products.  But what are some of the more immediate effects one can expect from using smokeless tobacco products?  Just like cigarettes, it leads to bad breath, yellow-brown stains on the teeth, and mouth sores (ick - who want to kiss that)! 

          Some strategies for quitting “dipping” include using nicotine replacement therapy (available FREE at Health Services at the University of Waterloo this year!), and using substitutes in your mouth – such as mint gum.  For more information talk to a health professional, or come by and chat with one of our team members at our booths! Check out our Facebook for booth times: www.facebook.com/ltpbwaterloo

Reference: 

www.kidshealth.org  

Quit Run Chill

Last Year the provincial government and Brock researchers launched a new online program to help young smokers avoid smoking, be physically active and cope with stress. The program is FREE and for smokers and non-smokers to choose a healthier lifestyle.

The “Quit Run Chill” program was developed with $26,000 from the Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport’s Healthy Communities Fund. It is now being promoted on virtually all post-secondary campuses in Ontario and in many communities.

“This initiative will help older youth and young adults establish and sustain a pattern of physical activity that will facilitate smoking cessation and reduce stress,” said Kelli-an Lawrance, associate professor, Community Health Sciences. “Following the program on its own, or in combination with quitting, will ultimately reduce an individual’s risk of hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases and contribute to positive mental health.”

Leave The Pack Behind (LTPB), a province-wide peer-to-peer smoking cessation initiative maintains the program.

LTPB operates at all universities and almost all public colleges in Ontario and reaches more than 500,000 students, which accounts for 50% of young adults in the province.

“This reaches thousands of students across the province with a healthy message: if you smoke, quit. If you’re not active, exercise. If you stress, relax,” he said.

Post-secondary students, supported by Brock researchers and other expert consultants designed “Quit Run Chill.” The program is self-directed and includes eight weeks of fresh information, ideas and inspirations about quitting smoking, being active and reducing stress.

• Quit: a proven self-help smoking cessation program, information about quitting options, and strategies for managing nicotine withdrawal
• Run: an eight-week progressive running program for new runners and a downloadable instruction manual
• Chill: tips for immediate and long-term relief of stress and weekly stress management ideas and inspirations

“Quit Run Chill” is interactive; facts, tips and inspirations are updated weekly. It is also highly personalized; registrants receive tailored weekly emails and can record, track and review their running (and quitting) progress online.

Sign up today!

Reference: http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=5421

Smoking & Physical Activity

According to the public agency of Canada, physical activity plays an important role in the health and well being of all Canadians. Those that live physically active lives generally live more productive lives, and are more likely to avoid illness and injury.

Being active doesn’t have to be difficult. There are many ways to make physical activity a part of daily life — at home, at school, and at work. (http://www.obesitypanacea.com/2009/05/ten-simple-ways-to-become-more.html )

 

It’s no surprise that smoking impedes physical activity. Research reports illustrate 18% of deaths each year are associated with the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. These harmful effects are most often linked to diseases within the cardiovascular system. Quitting smoking today could greatly improve your cardiovascular fitness in as little as two to eight hours.

Tar is the toxic chemical that is found in cigarettes. This tar slowly clouds the alveoli in your lungs. Alveoli are delicate microscopic bubbles that fill your lungs and are connected to airways that carry air in and out of them. They are extremely thin sacks of tissue holding a network of capillaries, or minute blood vessels. Alveoli expose all of your blood, one single red blood cell at a time; to the fresh air you fill your lungs with every breath you take. Perfusion, or blood flow, must match ventilation so oxygen diffuses into your blood and CO2 diffuses out properly. You cannot ventilate properly without healthy alveoli.

Smokers’ lungs have less surface area and fewer small blood vessels. So the lungs receive less food and oxygen than they need to function normally.  Every puff of smoke inhaled causes the airways to constrict.  Over time, the narrowing of airways causes irreversible lung damage.

Cardiovascular fitness and heart rate response to exercise are already reduced in young healthy smokers. In men, the adverse effects of smoking become stronger with increasing age but appear to be reversible at age 36.

A number of physical endurance studies have shown that that smokers reach exhaustion before non-smokers do and can’t run as far or as fast as non-smokers. Additional results noted that smokers:

o   Obtained less benefit from physical training

o   Had less muscular strength and flexibility

o   Experienced disturbed sleep patterns

o   Suffered from shortness of breath almost three times as often as non-smokers

Smoking also affects your bones and joints, putting you at increased risk for developing the following conditions:

o   Osteoporosis

o   Hip fractures

o   Rheumatoid arthritis etc.

Young people who smoke experience the same negative effects of tobacco that adult smokers do. This includes not only lower physical endurance and performance compared to their non-smoking peers, but also shortness of breath, increased sports-related injuries, and poorer overall health.

Smoking young adults can also slow down their lung growth, impair lung function, and cause their hearts to beat faster than those of non-smokers.

Fortunately for both adult and young smokers, many of the effects of smoking can be reversed if and when they quit smoking.

Habitual physical activity is easier than you think. It can be met through planned exercise sessions, active forms of transportation like walking or biking, as well as recreation and sports.

To make physical activity apart of your daily routine check out Leave the Pack Behinds’ QUITRUNCHILL program for smokers and non-smokers. This free, online-based program assumes that everyone wants to be a bit healthier. It offers facts about quitting, being active, and managing stress in a healthier manner. Be sure to check it out at: http://www.quitrunchill.org/.