Quitting Smoking for Good

Did you know that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the nation, causing more than 440,000 American deaths each year?*

Today, an estimated 46 million U.S. adults smoke regularly.* More than 20 percent of high school students are current smokers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). And about 4,000 kids between ages 12-17 try a cigarette for the first time each day, the CDC says.

However, high school smoking is at its lowest level since researchers began monitoring these smoking rates in the mid-1970s, according to the 2004 Surgeon General's report on the topic.

Also, there has been significant progress in reduction of lung cancer rates among states that have strong tobacco control programs, according to a 2003 study published in Cancer Causes and Control. In the past 15 years, many states and cities have enacted laws banning smoking in workplaces, restaurants, and public buildings; raising taxes on cigarettes, and limiting advertising of smoking.

Smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease, cancer, and stroke.* Smoking is thought to be responsible for 8 out of 10 cases of lung cancer.** The longer a person has been smoking and the more packs smoked per day, the greater the risk. If a person stops smoking before lung cancer develops, the lung tissue slowly returns to normal.**

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women. More people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined.** Lung cancer is fairly rare in people under the age of 40. The average age of people found to have lung cancer is 70.** The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimated there will be about 172,570 new cases of lung cancer in the United States in 2005: 93,010 among men and 79,560 among women. About 163,510 people will die of this disease: 90,490 men and 73,020 women.

In addition to lung cancer, smoking can be linked to nine other cancers, as well as several cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, fertility problems, low birth weight, and pregnancy complications, the 2004 Surgeon General's report found.

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer.* Smoking is directly responsible for 90 percent of lung cancer deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths.*

Each November, the ACS sponsors the Great American Smokeout®, a nationwide event (on the third Thursday of the month) scheduled this year for Nov. 17, 2005. Smokers are urged to quit for that day and to quit for good.

The ACS says research shows that smokers are most successful in giving up the habit when they have some kind of support - such as encouragement of friends and family members, counseling, and nicotine replacement products.

Despite the known risks to pregnant women, only about 30 percent of women who smoke stop smoking when they find that they are pregnant.* The proportion of quitters is highest among married women and women with higher levels of educational attainment.

Even apparently healthy, full-term babies of smokers have been found to be born with narrowed airways and curtailed lung function. In 1999, 12.3 percent of women who gave birth smoked during pregnancy.*

Approximately 22 million American women are smokers. Current female smokers aged 35 years or older are 12 times more likely to die prematurely from lung cancer than nonsmoking females.*

Nonsmokers who breathe the smoke of others also increase their risk of lung cancer. Non-smoking spouses of smokers, for example, have a 30

percent greater risk of developing lung cancer than do spouses of nonsmokers.*

For help quitting or to find out more about the Great American Smokeout, call the ACS at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org

Sources:
* -- American Lung Association (www.lungusa.org)
** -- American Cancer Society