South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative

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Cessation

Misinformation abounds about smoking....
        ......and quitting.   Read on for the facts.

 

Myth 1: It's Just A Matter of Willpower

Wrong. The nicotine in cigarettes is addictive. It is not easy to break an addiction. But it can be done. Half the people who once smoked have now quit. Quitters also experience a higher success rate when they take advantage of the assistance of the S.C. Quitline, Smoking Cessation Programs, even computer and phone-based assistance programs.

 

 

Myth 2: Smoking Low-Tar And Light Cigarettes Is Healthier And/Or Makes Quitting Easier

Not so. Smokers who smoke 'low tar' and 'light' cigarettes inhale the cigarette smoke more deeply into their lungs in order to get the nicotine their bodies require. This is no safer than smoking 'regular' cigarettes. Nor does it make it easier to quit.

  

Myth 3: If You Fail To Quit The First Time You Try, You'll Never Be Able To Quit

Nope. On average, it takes six quitting attempts before a person actually succeeds in breaking the habit. You learn something each time you try, and each time you try, you are more likely to succeed.

 

Myth 4: I Will Gain Weight if I Quit Smoking.

Maybe.  The fact is, your metabolism does slow down, so you may gain an average of 6 to 8 pounds if you do nothing else. However, research shows that exercising reduces cravings for cigarettes. In addition to making it easier to quit, that exercise can also help keep you from gaining extra weight.

 

 

Myth 5: If Smoking Doesn't Get Me, Something Will.

It is far more likely that 'something else' will get you if you are smoking. The average onset of smoking-related disease is 20-30 years after you start to smoke. Researchers are now learning that even one cigarette...one in your whole life...creates a measurable hardening of the arteries that may not be reversed. And, the fact is, almost 90% of all cases of lung cancer are caused by smoking. Many are diagnosed at age 35-45 and live an average of 5 years or less after diagnosis. Almost 30% of all cancers diagnosed in the U.S. are caused by smoking. Cancer and heart disease at the end of life are painful for both the smoker, their family and friends. 

It may also be a question of not only when or how you go, but how you want to live. Many smokers live years of their lives in suffering caused by not being able to breathe. They suffer from emphysema and COPD. Smokers also experience more oral health problems, poor wound healing from injury and after surgery, erectile dysfunction, diabetes, age related dementia, heart disease and other conditions that affect quality of life.

And your smoking doesn't just affect you. It affects everyone around you:

• Secondhand smoke exposure is a risk factor for several critical illnesses such as lung cancer, heart attack, breast cancer and respiratory illness.The more exposure, the higher the risk.
• Secondhand smoke exposure affects a person's ability to conceive a child. A mother who smokes prenatally impacts her child's physical and mental health for life, and increases the baby's risk of dying from SIDS. Children who grow up in a smoking household are sicker than their friends in nonsmoking households, and they are more likely to grow up to become smokers themselves.
• The cigarette butts you dispose of are increasingly acknowledged to be a pollutant with particular impact on the plants and animals living in waterways.

 

There is no bad reason  to quit smoking, and it is never too late to quit. Call the SC Quitline now at 1-800-QUIT-NOW.