[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Every year, on the third Thursday of November, smokers across the nation take part in the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout event. Encourage someone you know to use the date to make a plan to quit, or plan in advance and then quit smoking that day. By quitting – even for 1 day – smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life and reducing their cancer risk.
Great American Smokeout takes place on Thursday November 17, 2016. The Great American Smokeout is an annual social engineering event on the third Thursday of November by the American Cancer Society. The event encourages Americans to stop tobacco smoking.
Tobacco products are on track to kill one billion people worldwide this century. ACS CAN continues to have enormous success at the local, state and federal levels passing laws that prevent children from smoking, help adults quit and ensure the government uses its authority to regulate tobacco industry practices.
About 40 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the world. While cigarette smoking rates have dropped (from 42% in 1965 to 17% in 2014), cigar, pipe, and hookah – other dangerous and addictive ways to smoke tobacco – are very much on the rise. Smoking kills people – there’s no “safe” way to smoke tobacco.
Quitting smoking has immediate and long-term benefits at any age. Quitting is hard, but you can increase your chances of success with help. Getting help through counseling or medications can double or triple the chances of quitting successfully. Quitting while you’re younger will reduce your health risks more, but quitting at any age can give back years of life that would be lost by continuing to smoke.
Seven Ways to Get Ready to Quit Smoking
You’re taking an important step toward feeling better and creating a healthier life when you set out to quit smoking cigarettes. A good plan can help you get past symptoms of withdrawal. Take these five steps to improve your success:
1. Set a quit date. Choose the Great American Smokeout or another quit day within the next 2 weeks.
2. Tell your family and friends about your quit plan. Share your quit date with the important people in your life and ask for support. A daily phone call, e-mail, or text message can help you stay on course and provide moral support.
3. Be prepared for challenges. The urge to smoke is short—usually only 3 to 5 minutes, but those moments can feel intense. Even one puff can feed a craving and make it stronger. Before your quit day, write down healthy ways to cope.
Drink water.
Exercise.
Listen to a favorite song or play a game.
Call or text a friend.
Get social support by joining @CDCTobaccoFree on Facebook and Twitter.
Sign up for SmokefreeTEXT for 24/7 help on your mobile phone.
4. Remove cigarettes and other tobacco from your home, car, and workplace. Throw away your cigarettes, matches, lighters, and ashtrays. Clean and freshen your car, home, and workplace. Old cigarette odors can cause cravings.
5. Talk to your pharmacist, doctor, or quitline coach about quit options. Nicotine patches, gum, or other approved quit medication can help with cravings.
6. Take up yoga or try relaxation techniques, since many smokers use cigarettes as a way to relieve stress, the Mayo Clinic suggests finding other calming activities that have the same effect. Yoga (which is also a great form of exercise) or relaxing practices like guided imagery can all help keep anxieties at bay.
7. Use your text messages, a study published in the journal The Lancet found that smokers who used a cessation program called “txt2stop” were twice as likely to quit after six months than those who tried to quit on their own. The program sent encouraging messages to those who are trying to kick the habit.
Are there benefits of quitting that I’ll notice right away?
Right away you’ll save the money you spent on tobacco! Right away you’ll notice that food tastes better. Your sense of smell returns to normal. Your breath, hair, and clothes smell better. Right away you’ll your teeth and fingernails stop yellowing. Ordinary activities leave you less out of breath (for example, climbing stairs or light housework). Quitting also helps stop the damaging effects of tobacco on how you look, including premature wrinkling of your skin, gum disease, and tooth loss.
Within minutes of smoking your last cigarette, your body begins to recover:
20 minutes after quitting your heart rate and blood pressure drop.
12 hours after quitting the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
2 weeks to 3 months after quitting your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
1 to 9 months after quitting coughing and shortness of breath decrease. Tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs (called cilia) start to regain normal function in your lungs, increasing their ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
1 year after quitting the excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone who still smokes. Your heart attack risk drops dramatically.
5 years after quitting your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder is cut in half. Cervical cancer risk falls to that of a non-smoker. Your stroke risk can fall to that of a non-smoker after 2 to 5 years.
10 years after quitting your risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking. Your risk of cancer of the larynx (voice box) and pancreas decreases.
The Great American Smokeout History
Evolving from a series of small-scale initiatives, the first Great American Smokeout was held on November 16, 1977, in San Francisco’s Union Square. An informal holiday aimed at encouraging citizens to quit or plan to quit smoking. Smoking is a habit that involves consumption of tobacco smoke, which has been shown to cause a variety of cancers, most notably lung and mouth cancer. Lung cancer is currently the leading cause of Cancer death in the United States and the most preventable type of cancer worldwide.
Guide to Quitting Smoking
The US Surgeon General has said, “Smoking cessation [stopping smoking] represents the single most important step that smokers can take to enhance the length and quality of their lives.” It’s hard to quit smoking, but you can do it. To have the best chance of quitting and staying a non-smoker, you need to know what you’re up against, what your options are, and where to go for help.
Remember, tobacco addiction is both mental and physical. For most people, the best way to quit will be some combination of medicine, a method to change personal habits, and emotional support. You’ll find this information here.
Helping a Smoker Quit: Do’s and Don’ts General hints for friends and family
Do respect that the quitter is in charge. This is their lifestyle change and their challenge, not yours. Call the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345 to find out what resources might be available to help someone quit and stay quit. You’ll find this information here.
World No Tobacco Day
Guide to Quitting Smoking
The US Surgeon General has said, “Smoking cessation [stopping smoking] represents the single most important step that smokers can take to enhance the length and quality of their lives.” It’s hard to quit smoking, but you can do it. To have the best chance of quitting and staying a non-smoker, you need to know what you’re up against, what your options are, and where to go for help.
Remember, tobacco addiction is both mental and physical. For most people, the best way to quit will be some combination of medicine, a method to change personal habits, and emotional support. You’ll find this information here. http://www.cancer.org/healthy/stayawayfromtobacco/guidetoquittingsmoking/index
Australia, Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and France have all passed laws to implement plain packaging, and several other countries are considering adopting plain packaging laws. WHO is encouraging all its member countries to adopt such laws.
If you’re a smoker, setting a date to quit can be an important step in protecting your health and the health of your loved ones. The American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout encourages smokers to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking on a specific day. This year, the 41st annual Great American Smokeout will be held on November 17 and will encourage the 36.5 million adults in the U.S. who smoke cigarettes to quit.
Making the decision to quit can help you realize and appreciate your own determination! You Can Do It!
You have the strength it takes to quit smoking for good. The support provided by the American Cancer Society Great American Smokeout doesn’t end when the day is over. When you plan to quit smoking during the Great American Smokeout, you are celebrating this day with millions of other smokers across the nation who also want to quit.
Smokers who want to kick the habit and start on the path toward a healthier life can also use the “Quit for Life” app offered by the American Cancer Society to reach a round-the-clock support network.
Join in by participating in social media conversations, chatting live with a counselor or calling a quitline, or teaming up with friends, family, or co-workers for encouragement. Smokers who have support are more likely to quit for good!
This is an annual social engineering event to encourage Americans to stop tobacco smoking. The Great American Smokeout challenges smokers to quit cigarettes for 24 hours with the hopes that this decision will continue forever. Join millions of other smokers and do not smoke for the day. Use #GreatAmericanSmokeout to post on social media.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
