How to encourage a friend to quit – without being a nag about it! 

Helping a friend to quit smoking is one of the best things that you can do for them. It is crucial to support smokers and not to criticize them as they try to become smoke-free. 

When it comes down to it, it is up to the smoker to quit smoking. However, through the provision of support and consideration you can assist a friend as they work towards quitting. How can help you help? For starters, the best thing to do requires listening to and encouraging your friend. It is very difficult to quit smoking so be sure to let your friend know that you understand that.  Remember that smoking causes addiction and that most people who begin to quit smoking will experience physical withdrawal symptoms that can last from 48 hours to up to four weeks! Be extra supportive for your friend during this time and remind them that these symptoms are only temporary and will eventually pass.


Other things that can be done include encouraging your friend to choose a health activity such as jogging. And hey, why not do it with them! (Check out http://www.quitrunchill.org/ for more details regarding a program that can help you with this!)


A good thing to do is the avoid places that allow smoking. This helps your friend to resist the urge to smoke! Though if your friend does slip and starts smoking again, be sure to continuously encourage them! You can remind them that most people who stay smoke free have tried numerous times until they were completely successful. You can look at what got your friend to start smoking again and work towards avoiding it. Then make sure to celebrate your friend’s success when they become smoke-free! You can even send your friend an e-card to inspire them to quit smoking!  


Check it out: http://www.lung.ca/involved-impliquez/ecards-cartes/quitting-ecraser_e.php 


Reference: http://www.lung.ca/protect-protegez/tobacco-tabagisme/quitting-cesser/friend-ami_e.php






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10 Myths that Undermine Tobacco Control 

In the United States and Canada smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Even though the health risks are documented and outlined, there are still many myths that encourage people to start or continue smoking.  These myths are caused by a misunderstanding of what seems to be common sense and a deliberate influence from the tobacco industry that mainly targets children to start smoking and keep them smoking into adulthood.

Comprehensive tobacco control programs which include anti–smoking public education can help prevent the undermine of the tobacco company but yet smoking is still prominent in today society and is growing in developing countries and among women.  To keep these individuals smoking many myths are believed to be true by many smokers, physicians and policy makers.

Myth 1: People have a free choice whether or not to smoke

We like to believe that we are all capable of making our own decisions.  However in 2002 the tobacco industry has spent $12.5 billion on advertising cigarettes in the United States which is roughly 18 times the amount that is spent on tobacco prevention.  These advertisements encourage people to smoke particularly the youth and demographic subgroups. 

Even nowadays the tobacco industry is still targeting people from movies such as: the girl with the dragon tattoo, Inglorious bastards, fight club and etc.  The goal of the tobacco industry is to make smoking look cool and they’re doing a good job of it by having the most famous people in Hollywood smoking.

Most smokers want to quit when they’re 26 but the tobacco industry ensures there enough nicotine in cigarettes to keep them addictive and refers to cigarettes as the “nicotine delivery device”. In order to keep people addictive the tobacco industry uses production methods where they add chemical additives and may increase the amounts of nicotine.

Myth 2: Everyone knows how bad smoking is

People are generally aware that smoking is not healthy. But there are instances of unawareness such as: very few women know that smoking can lead to cervical cancer, osteoporosis, early menopause, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and infertility. In Canada fewer than half Canadian adults between the ages of 55 to 74 identified smoking as the leading cause of heart disease.

In China, 90% of the smoker population is male and fewer than 1 in 4 people think that smoking causes serious health problems. This is because Chinese born males who have little knowledge about smoking are twice as likely to smoke verses someone who is high informed about smoking.

Myth 3: Just a few cigarettes a day cannot hurt

Even 3 to 5 cigarettes a day can lead to tobacco related illnesses and death.  Diseases such as myocardial infraction, coronary heart disease are not linear with smoking; even small doses of tobacco smoke can increase your chances of catching these diseases rapidly. Pregnant women who smoke as few as 5 cigarettes a day are more likely to have a low birth weight baby.

Myth 4: Light Cigarettes are less harmful

Light cigarettes are just as harmful as regular cigarettes, but yet 60% of smokers believe that light cigarettes refer to low tar or low nicotine cigarettes. Light cigarettes are less harmful based only on machine testing; however, they actually have the same content as the regular cigarettes, when smoked by an actual person.

What usually happens when someone smokes lighter cigarettes is that they begin to smoke more of them to satisfy their nicotine craving which will lead to more tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine being absorbed in their system.

Myth 5: It’s easy to stop smoking; if people want to quit, they will

Many smokers are able to stop on their own but many find it difficult or near impossible to quit. Even doctors found smoking hard to quit. Tobacco is about as addictive as heroin, cocaine and alcohol in addiction potential.

The benefits of quitting smoking are well documented and many people who actually want to quit will make several attempts before actually quitting. However most smokers want to quit but only make 1 attempt a year. Of those who try to quit smoking, only 7% last a year or longer without medication, aid or assistance.

 

Myth 6: Cessation Medication Don’t Work

Smoking cessation medication or NRT (Nicotine Replacement Therapy) such as patches, gum, nasal spray, lozenge and bupropion can double the likely hood of quitting smoking.  Using multiple NRT methods will increase your chances of quitting. Retreatment to a failed NRT course will increase the likeliness you will quit. So don’t give up!

Myth 7: Once a Smoke always a Smoker

The Million people who are former smokers are living proof this isn’t true. It isn’t impossible to quit and set back some of the negative effects of smoking.

Myth 8: Tobacco is good for the economy

Tobacco industries argue that they create employment, raise tax revenue and contribute to the national gross domestic product. But the long term social costs of tobacco outweigh any economic benefit.  The World Bank found money not spent on cigarettes could be spent on other goods and services that in turn would generate other jobs and activities that would replace the tobacco industry’s benefits.

In the United States smoking causes an economic loss of about 167 billion a year.  This includes health care and productivity due to premature death.  This is more than the 81 billion that smokers spend on cigarettes per year.

Myth 9: We’ve already solved the Tobacco problem

The problems caused by tobacco use are far from solved, despite the declining amount of smokers in Canada. It is said that more than 1 in 5 Canadians smoke and globally about 1.3 billion people smoke.  More than 1 billion of those people will die from a tobacco related disease in this century. 

Myth 10: The tobacco industry no longer markets to kids and undermines public health efforts

Cigarette company go out their way to advertise to children because the younger they start the more dependent they will become on nicotine and the less likely they will quit when there an adult.  The tobacco industry advertises by having magazine ads, television ads and even giving away free things such as t-shirts and caps.  Smoking in movies is one of the biggest ways they advertise to young teens.

The tobacco industry employs lawyers, scientists and public effort experts to help divert attention from global health issues.  They create distorted scientific studies, infer with politics and in 2005 they filed a lawsuit to stop public health advertising campaigns that they claimed were anti–industry.

Conclusions:

Many myths that surround smoking are misunderstood. Most don’t realize the true effects tobacco has on the person and the economy.  While government agencies and public agencies must take lead, the health care system, businesses, insurers, communities and individuals play an important role in tobacco control.

Reference:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1449389/

                                               

Tobacco makes education possible in China – health miss-hap or educational success? 

In September 2011 North America realized that in dozens of rural villages in China’s western provinces, tobacco made children's education possible.

The gates of these schools has a slogan which translated to “genius comes from hard work – Tobacco helps you become talented”

The school, which was built by the local tobacco company after a deadly earthquake in 2008, also bears the green leaf logo of China Tobacco, the country's all-powerful state-controlled monopoly, on its parapet.

China Tobacco is the world's largest manufacturer of tobacco products, with over 900 brands, and is owned by the Chinese government. China is the world's largest tobacco market and as many as 60 per cent of its men smoke.

Anti-smoking campaigners described the sponsorship deals as “sickening” and “shocking”, and noted they broke the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, which China ratified in 2005

Cary Adams, chief executive of the Union for International Cancer Control, said: “Having just concluded a historic UN summit on non-communicable diseases where tobacco was highlighted as crucial to lessening the global burden of cancer, it is both shocking and disheartening to hear reports of such disregard for the health of so many young people…Governments need to be in the business of helping their citizens, not propelling this epidemic further.”

Smoking among women in China is currently low compared to that of men. But tobacco industry sponsorship of primary schools is a revoltingly blatant means of recruiting young girls, as well as boys, to a life of addiction to a deadly drug\

Around 1.2 million of China’s 300 million smokers died every year from smoking-related diseases, a figure expected to triple by 2030.

There are now 16 million smokers under the age of 15 in China, 6.3 per cent of the youth population, according to the Chinese government.

Meanwhile, a survey of 12,000 schoolchildren by Peking University last year found that almost a third of boys between 13 and 15 have tried smoking and that the average age Chinese smokers have their first cigarette is 10.

Many of the primary schools funded by tobacco companies are part of China's Hope project, a charity that has rolled out schools in the countryside for the poor. Parents seem to be very supportive of the tobacco companies. They think they are giving something back to society, but they are just using charity as a front.

Tobacco companies have also built a network of libraries in the countryside, including at least 42 primary school libraries in Xinjiang and 40 in Tibet. They also widely sponsor school sports events and entertainment shows.

Inside the schools, they often have branded uniforms and distribute cigarette-shaped sweets. Vendors near the school gates usually sell cigarettes one-by-one, rather than in packets.

Last year, the Ministry of Education banned all advertisements for tobacco on the campuses of Chinese schools, but have found it difficult to implement the regulation on Hope schools, which are administered by another arm of the Chinese government.

Shackling the tobacco industry has proved next to impossible for the Chinese government, which relies on it for a huge slice of its tax revenues.

In some tobacco growing provinces, such as Yunnan, the industry generates more than 40 per cent of the local government tax take.

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/.