Tips for Supporting Your Loved One While They Quit Smoking/Chewing

1.  Don't nag.
2.  It's their decision.  Guilting them into doing it for you or for the kids decreases their chance of success.  They have to want to quit.
3.  Be involved, but don't smother.  Tell them you're proud.  Keep track of how many days they have been tobacco free and recognize their effort.  Do not bring it up constantly.  Find the line and toe it. 
4.  Be prepared!  They may be moody, depressed or have outbursts.  If kids are around, get them out of the line of fire.  This is a normal part of withdrawal and it will pass.
5.  Encourage them to find support through a friend or a tobacco cessation website.  There are many forums to find support and information.  See links on the previous post for some places to start. 
6.  Educate yourself.  Research the symptoms of withdrawal and know that some reactions that are extreme or carry on too long may need to be discussed with a medical professional.

Thinking About Quitting Smoking or Chewing?

You may have already heard that the CDC estimates adult males lose 13.2 years and adult females lose 14.5 years of life due to smoking, but many still have the attitude that they would rather live a shorter life doing what they want than give up something they enjoy.  Well, consider the impact on your quality of life as well.  

According to the American Cancer Society, death from cancer or heart disease are not the only serious risks to worry about.  Smoking causes an increased risk of macular degeneration, one of the most common causes of blindness in older people. It promotes cataracts, which cloud the lens of the eye. It also causes premature wrinkling of the skin, bad breath, gum disease and tooth loss, bad-smelling clothes and hair, and yellow fingernails.  Men who smoke are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (impotence) because of blood vessel disease.  Cancer is not the only lung disease you need to worry about.  Smoking greatly increases your risk of getting long-term lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These diseases make it harder to breathe, and are grouped together under the name chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD causes chronic illness and disability, and gets worse over time -- sometimes becoming fatal.  And speaking of that cancer - it isn't just lung cancer.  It is also linked to higher risk for many other kinds of cancer too, including cancer of the mouth, nose, sinuses, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, and acute myeloid leukemia.

There are a lot of new tools to help you when and if you decide to quit:

Become An Ex

Guide to Quitting Smoking

Smokefree


Smokeless Tobacco Resources:

Kill The Can

My Last Dip

Taking this step is hard work, but information is power and we want you to succeed.  Please contact us at eciwellness@gmail.com if you would like more information about tobacco cessation. 

New Required Graphics for Cigarettes

Wow, this should get your attention!  Beginning September 2012, FDA will require larger, more prominent cigarette health warnings on all cigarette packaging and advertisements in the United States. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),  tobacco use is the leading cause of premature and preventable death in the US, responsible for 443,000 deaths each year and costs our economy nearly $200 billion every year in medical costs and lost productivity.

There are nine images that fill the top half of the package.  The images must appear in as equal a number of times as is possible on each brand of cigarettes and be randomly distributed in all areas of the United States in which the product is marketed.

For advertisements, the law requires that the warnings be rotated quarterly in alternating sequence for each brand of cigarettes. 

The Tobacco Control Act (passed by Congress in June 2009) also requires the following nine textual warning statements to appear on cigarette packages and in cigarette advertisements:

• WARNING: Cigarettes are addictive.
• WARNING: Tobacco smoke can harm your children.
• WARNING: Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease.
• WARNING: Cigarettes cause cancer.
• WARNING: Cigarettes cause strokes and heart disease.
• WARNING: Smoking during pregnancy can harm your baby.
• WARNING: Smoking can kill you.
• WARNING: Tobacco smoke causes fatal lung disease in nonsmokers.
• WARNING: Quitting smoking now greatly reduces serious risks to your health.

The final rule also requires that each warning include a reference to the cessation resource, 1-800-QUIT-NOW. 

The FDA estimates that this regulation will reduce the number of smokers by 213,000 in 2013, with smaller additional reductions through 2031.

A similar ruling was made for smokeless tobacco products as well.

Here are the other eight images:





We would love to hear your thoughts.  Do you think this new campaign will make a difference?