Six steps you can take to quit smoking and live healthier

Smoking, an addiction that is killing children and young people 6:39 (CNN) — Smoking tobacco is highly addictive and can have long-term adverse health effects. But there is hope for those who want to quit thanks to innovative apps, helplines and proven strategies. In 2019, more than 30.8 million Americans smoked, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This represents almost 12.5% ​​of Americans over the age of 18. Smoking is also the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, accounting for nearly 1 in 5 deaths. Cigarettes have chemicals that can make this addiction especially insidious. When they enter the lungs, they can cause harmful effects such as bronchitis, explains Jonathan Bricker, a professor in the division of public health sciences at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. Over time, smoking can lead to lung cancer, which has a survival rate of less than 18% within five years of diagnosis. Fortunately, lung cancer can be prevented by quitting smoking and learning to “stay smoke free,” says Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Tobacco Treatment Clinic in Baltimore, Maryland. Here are six steps you can take to quit smoking or help someone you love quit and enjoy a healthier life: 1. Focus on how to “stay smoke free” Finding it hard to quit permanently? goal into smaller, more manageable steps. The goal shouldn’t be to quit, but rather focus on how to “keep quitting,” Galiatsatos said. He says he’s had patients say they’ve quit many times, but haven’t. have achieved permanently Galiatsatos recommends that people break their larger goal of quitting into smaller goals.
For example, learn about the different triggers that can make you want to smoke. In this way, you can be aware and find solutions for those actions. 2. Make every time you quit a learning experience Most people who smoke quit eight to 12 times, due to the addiction of cigarettes, before quitting for good, explains Bricker. Since relapses are so common, Bricker tells her patients to find a lesson they can learn from each experience. “People will say things like, ‘I’ve learned how powerful these cravings are, or I’ve learned that watching my friend smoke was a big trigger for me, or I’ve learned that the stress in my life was a big trigger,'” Bricker said. Patients should approach smoking cessation from the standpoint that the more they learn from their relapses, the greater their chance of quitting permanently, she said. 3. Use helplines and apps Your smartphone can help, whether you’re using it to call a helpline or download an app to quit smoking. Support groups for people who want to quit smoking are on the decline, so Bricker recommended calling a quit line for outside assistance. The CDC funds a quit line, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669), which is free to US residents in all states, plus the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. . The call is automatically transferred to the quitline for your state or territory. Callers are put in touch with coaches who help smokers create a quit plan and give them tips for coping with withdrawal and cravings. State quitlines currently reach only 1% of people who smoke, which the CDC largely attributes to a lack of funding to promote the service. Bricker’s team at Fred Hutch helped create the iCanQuit app, which was supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The app focuses on acceptance and commitment therapy, which encourages people to accept their emotions and thoughts instead of pushing them away. The tool also offers resources for quitting and managing cravings when they arise, Bricker said. 5 Actions to Quit Smoking 0:55 4. Discuss it with your doctor It’s a good idea to be totally open with your doctor about your smoking habit so that he or she can come up with strategies that work for you. People who want to quit smoking can talk to their doctor to develop a multi-strategy treatment plan, Galiatsatos said. Doctors can prescribe medications to curb urges to smoke and make them more bearable, she said. It’s a short-term fix that helps train the brain not to crave so much, Bricker added. The medications doctors provide will depend on the particular situation, Bricker said. Prescriptions tend to be minimal at first and then increase depending on the severity of the addiction. 5. Support people addicted to tobacco Galiatsatos said that he has never met a patient who does not know that smoking is bad, so he recommends avoiding that argument when appealing to a loved one who smokes. “If you really want to help your loved one quit smoking, you have to approach it as a smoker and anti-tobacco,” she said. When trying to help someone who smokes, make it clear that you’re addressing the situation without stigmatizing or judging them, Galiatsatos said. Once trust is established, he recommends that friends and family offer to help smokers find resources to quit. Health care providers should also support their patients who smoke, Galiatsatos said. If patients feel judged by their doctors for smoking, they may lie about it. And that doesn’t help anyone, she said. Even when patients aren’t motivated to quit that day, it’s important to explain the different treatment options to them so they have the resources they need later. 6. Address the root problem Many times when people smoke, it’s to deal with some underlying problem in their lives, such as stress or anxiety, Galiatsatos said. When faced with those emotions when quitting, it’s instinctive for them to turn to cigarettes. “If they’ve always relied on cigarettes as a coping mechanism, and they don’t have a substitute, that’s all we’ll see,” she said. To combat this challenge, Galiatsatos recommended that people trying to quit smoking seek behavioral counseling. This way they will be able to better identify why they smoked and work to find healthier ways to process those emotions. And why is smoking so addictive? Cigarettes are so hard to quit because the chemicals they contain can rewire your brain over time. Cigarettes are full of chemicals, like nicotine, that are chemically potentiated to create that addiction, explains Galiatsatos. Chemically enhanced nicotine closely resembles the common neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which helps control muscle movement and other brain functions. When nicotine locks into acetylcholine receptors, the body releases dopamine, the feel-good brain chemical. When the dopamine wears off, people start craving another cigarette. “I always tell people that this is the most insidious addictive molecule known, because it doesn’t just cause an overdose,” says Galiatsatos, who is also a volunteer medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association. It builds connections in the smoker’s brain for years and years, and “when someone realizes they’re stealing their health, it’s incredibly hard to break that addiction.” Despite the enormous effort involved, do not forget: it is possible to overcome this addiction and enjoy better health.