Too Late To Quit?

Too Late to Quit?

The general health consequences of smoking, especially in the long-term, are widely known by both smokers and non-smokers.  As a result, it is not uncommon for people to believe in the  “I have smoked for years, so I might as well just keep on smoking” ideology.  These individuals believe that the years they have already spent smoking will inevitably cause damage to their health so there is no point in them quitting. 

This ideology does wonders to discourage people from quitting smoking.  If people will inevitably suffer cancer and respiratory illnesses, whether or not they quit smoking, what incentive is there to quit? In fact, there is a disincentive to quit, as this ideology suggests that even if someone forgoes smoking and its benefits (stress reduction, improved concentration, facilitation of social interaction with other smokers, and more), the end result will be the same. If this ideology were accurate, the only plausible path to follow would be the one with pros and cons (continuing to smoke), rather than the path that appears to solely be paved with cons (quitting smoking).

Thankfully, the “too late to quit” ideology is simply nothing more than a common misconception.  There are numerous health benefits that occur just briefly following smoking cessation, whether a person has been smoking for one year or ten years. 

 

While the short-term benefits of smoking cessation never fail to amaze, it is important to not forget the long-term benefits of smoking cessation that exist for even chronic smokers, particularly the great reduction in one’s risk of various cancers, coronary heart disease, and chronic respiratory illnesses.

At the end of the day, there remains just one take-home message: “It is never too late to quit.”

References

Hing Lam, T. (2012). Absolute Risk of Tobacco Deaths: One in Two Smokers Will Be Killed by Smoking. The Journal of the American Medical Association, 172(11), 845-846. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.1927.

LTPB PowerPoint 2 (Slide 25)

 The Beauty of an Ugly Addiction

Frieke Janssens, a young Belgian born photographer brings a creative touch to the art of photography. Nurturing her passion which started from the young age of 15, she works on images of lifestyle and individuals in society while trying her best to avoid clichés. She works with an eye for detail, humour and surrealism.

2 year-old Ardi Rizal is photographed smoking a cigarette.

One of her most controversial and talked about pieces is “Smoking Kids”.  

The inspiration and idea for this project came from a viral video on YouTube featuring an Indonesian toddler who started smoking at the tender age of 18 months, and reported smoking a staggering amount of two packs a day. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4c_wI6kQyE) 

Janssens states that 'the video highlighted the cultural differences between the east and west, and questioned notions of smoking being a mainly adult activity’. Adult smokers are the societal norm, so her intent was to point the viewers to the issue of smoking itself, and not the smoker.  

She carefully chose children for her portraits dressed in traditional 1920’s wear, as Victorian missionaries and British schoolmistresses. Using a dull background and surrounded by a haze of smoke, they were photographed performing the rituals of a smoker - forcing out smoke through the nose, lighting one cigarette with another, or mouthing smoke rings.

As beautiful as these children are, the expressions on their faces are sad and sickly. She has made beautiful, innocent, and pure children portray a sad and unhealthy look. Although they represent the faces of innocence and beauty, some people may find the cigarettes lingering between their fingers or pipes hovering between their lip deeply disturbing.

The photographer did not use real cigarettes during the shoot. Instead, she relied on sticks of chalk or cheese for props, and used candles and incense to create the smoke.

On her website, she states: 'I felt that seeing children smoke would have a surreal impact on the viewer and compel them to truly see the acts of smoking rather than making assumptions about the person doing it.'

In regards to the styling of the photographs, she explains: 'the culture around smoking has a retro feel. It’s like a throw back to the ‘Mad Men’ era when smoking on a plane or in a restaurant was not unusual.'

She added: 'there is a nod to less attractive aspects, on the line between the beauty and ugliness of smoking.

She intended to show that the addiction, while often unattractive, can also be the opposite, and can appear regal or sophisticated.

The unsettling photographs have the capacity to warn against the unhealthy habit as well as warning smokers against lighting up in front of their children.

A critic familiar with the artist states: 'by portraying adults as children all the attention went to the smoking. An adult would draw to much attention to the portrayed person. Thus these portraits evoke question such as: is the smoking ban the right way to get rid of an absurd addiction and are smokers treated like little kids who can’t make the difference between good and bad?'

By:  Hina Parmar, Campus Program Coordinator

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