Central Shenandoah Health District

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The Great American Smokeout Challenge

Why Quit?

No matter how old you are or how long you've smoked, quitting will help you live longer. People who stop smoking before age 50 cut their risk of dying in the next 15 years in half compared with those who continue to smoke. Ex-smokers enjoy a higher quality of life with fewer illnesses from cold and flu viruses, better self-reported health, and reduced rates of bronchitis and pneumonia.
For decades the Surgeon General has reported the health risks linked to smoking. In 1990, the Surgeon General concluded:

• Quitting smoking has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages. Benefits apply to people with and without smoking-related disease.
• Former smokers live longer than people who keep smoking.
• Quitting smoking decreases the risk of lung cancer, other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease.
• Women who stop smoking before pregnancy or during the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy reduce their risk of having a low birth-weight baby to that of women who never smoked.
• The health benefits of quitting smoking are far greater than any risks from the small weight gain (usually less than 10 pounds) or any emotional or psychological problems that may follow quitting.

The Benefits of Quitting

20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops.
(Effect of Smoking on Arterial Stiffness and Pulse Pressure Amplification, Mahmud, A, Feely, J. 2003. Hypertension:41:183.)

12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
(US Surgeon General's Report, 1988, p. 202)

2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp.193, 194,196, 285, 323)

1 to 9 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.
(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp. 285-287, 304)

1 year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.
(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p. vi)

5 years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.
(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p. vi)

10 years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decrease.
(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp. vi, 131, 148, 152, 155, 164,166)

15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker's.
(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p. vi)

Health of Others

Secondhand smoke causes between 35,000 and 40,000 deaths from heart disease every year.  3000 otherwise healthy nonsmokers will die of lung cancer annually because of their exposure to secondhand smoke.  These deaths occur because tobacco users are not the only ones who breathe smoke—all the people around them inhale it too. Unfortunately, non-smoking and ventilated public spaces cannot filter or circulate air at the rate necessary to eliminate secondhand smoke.
 
What is Secondhand Smoke?

• Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke emitted from the burning ends of a tobacco product (sidestream smoke) and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of tobacco users (mainstream smoke).
• Secondhand smoke contains over 4000 substances, more than 60 of which are known or suspected to cause cancer.5 Some of the deadly substances in secondhand smoke and the cancers they cause are:
  • Arsenic, benzo(a)pyrene, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and NNK → lung cancer
  • Nitrosamines → cancers of the lung, respiratory system, and other organs
  • Aromatic amines → bladder and breast cancers
  • Formaldehyde and nickel → nasal cancer
  • Benzene → leukemia
  • Vinyl chloride → liver and brain cancer
  • 2-napthalymine and 4-aminobiphenyl → bladder cancer
  • Lead → liver cancer
• Three of the above carcinogens -- arsenic, benzene, and vinyl chloride -- are regulated in the United States as hazardous air pollutants. Two of the bladder carcinogens -- 2-napthalymine and 4-aminobiphenyl are banned for use in dye manufacturing.
• The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has classified secondhand smoke as a Group A carcinogen, a substance which is known to cause human cancer.

Important Facts about Tobacco Use

• Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S.
• Cigarette smoking accounts for about 443,000 premature deaths – including 49,400 in nonsmokers.
• Thirty percent of cancer deaths, including 87 percent of lung cancer deaths, can be attributed to tobacco.
• Smoking also accounts for $193 billion in health care expenditures and productivity losses.
• Great progress is being made in reducing tobacco use in the U.S., with adult smoking rates in 2007 declining among all adults to 19.8 percent.

For more information please check out the Great American Smokeout Challenge website:

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/subsite/greatamericans/Smokeout.asp

 

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