plan for success

make this the year you quit smoking

Giving up cigarettes is a process, not an event. Since there’s no “right way” to quit, coming up with an individual plan is your best first step if you want to quit smoking or using tobacco products. Here are some tips to help you get started: ✔ Pick a quit day within the next four weeks, mark it on your calendar, and tell your friends and family. ✔ Remove all tobacco products and ashtrays from your car, home, and workspace. ✔ Stock up on gum, carrot sticks, celery, nuts, seeds, and toothpicks. These can serve as oral substitutes when you get the urge to put a cigarette or tobacco product in your mouth. ✔ Ask family and friends not to smoke around you or leave tobacco products where you can see them. ✔ When quit day comes, stay busy, and drink lots of water. Avoid alcohol and situations that may make you want to smoke. ✔ When the urge to smoke strikes, try holding off for 10 minutes (repeat if needed), breathe deeply, take sips of water, or get up and move around. Cravings may be intense, but usually pass within ten minutes, whether you give in to them or not. ✔ Find ways to manage stress like taking a walk, getting a massage, or doing yoga.

Vaping: Not a safe alternative

Vaping, or electronic cigarette use, is sometimes presented to the public as a safer alternative to smoking. E-cigarettes heat and vaporize liquids for inhalation and can contain a number of substances, nicotine and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) being the most common.

E-cigarettes have also been linked to vitamin E acetate. Commonly present in many foods and face creams, vitamin E acetate is benign when ingested or applied topically, but research has pointed towards the dangers of inhaling the substance, because it interferes with the lung’s normal functioning.

Nicotine, a chemical found in tobacco leaves, elevates the heart rate and has been linked to impaired cognitive development in adolescents. Nearly all vaping liquids contain nicotine, some offering less per puff than cigarettes, but most containing more. Just one cartridge of e-cigarette liquid typically contains the same amount of nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.

Adverse cardiovascular effects, damage to brain development, and highly addictive properties raise the stakes for teens and young adults. “Nicotine-free” products aren’t safe either: Some such products have been found to contain nicotine despite labeling that suggests the opposite.

In addition to nicotine, vape liquids contain flavor enhancers. The most appealing of these flavors often contain diacetyl, a chemical known to cause lung irritation and asthma-like diseases. Generally, vaping liquids also contain propylene glycol. Propylene glycol, when heated, undergoes a change that produces formaldehyde. ●

SELECTED SOURCES “1-800-QUIT-NOW: 15 years of helping people quit,” 10/7/19; “Quit smoking,” 9/5/22, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, www.CDC.gov • “Can vaping damage your lungs? What we do (and don’t) know” by Robert H. Shmerling, Harvard Health Blog, health.harvard.edu • “Deciding to quit smoking and making a plan,” American Cancer Society, www.Cancer.org 10/10/20 • “E-cigarettes can emit formaldehyde at high levels under conditions that have been reported to be non-averse to users” by James C. Salamanca et al., Scientific Reports, www.Nature.com • “Quit smoking,” www.MayoClinic.org, 11/15/22

Benefits begin today!

Quitting smoking offers many health benefits. Some kick in immediately, while others are more long-term. Here’s a chart showing some of the ways your body recovers after smoking your last cigarette.

TIME SINCE LAST CIGARETTE HEALTH BENEFITS

20 minutes Blood pressure and heart rate drop.

12 hours Carbon monoxide level returns to normal.

2 weeks to 3 months Circulation and lung function improve.

1 to 9 months Coughing and shortness of breath decrease. 1 year Coronary heart disease risk is half that of a smoker’s. 5 years Stroke risk drops to that of a nonsmoker’s. 10 years Lung cancer risk is half that of a current smoker’s.

SOURCE “Benefits of quitting smoking over time,” American Cancer Society, www.Cancer.org, 11/10/20

Call it quits!

For more information and assistance with quitting tobacco, call the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-855-335-3569 en Español) or visit www.SmokeFree.gov

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