Last modified Tue., November 21, 2006 - 05:28 PM
Originally created Thursday, November 23, 2006

Great American Smokeout saves lives

By Danny Woodard, Tobacco Treatment SpecialistNaval Hospital Jax Wellness Center

HM2(FMF) Eric Demier of the NAS Jacksonville Naval Hospital Wellness Center (left), observes AN Nicholas Cox, a student at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jax, as he tests the amount of carbon monoxide in his system from smoking cigarettes. Photos by MC1(SW/AW) Heather Ewton

The Naval Hospital Jacksonville Wellness Center conducted outreach during the Great American Smokeout this year at the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit (CNATTU) Jax, HS-7 and Naval Hospi-tal Jacksonville Nov. 15-17. The official Great American Smokeout day is Nov. 16, but this year it was extended into a three-day event to get the word out on prevention and cessation to our Sailors, Marines, family members and retirees.

Carbon monoxide checks, blood pressure checks, educational material, tobacco substitutes and Wellness Center tobacco cessation program information was conducted and distributed at each location. Emphasis was also put on spit tobacco cessation, referred to as smokeless tobacco in the past.

The Great American Smokeout was established nationally 30 years ago this month with the intent to motivate American smokers to quit and to save lives - and it has done just that. Over the past 30 years, 50 percent of all smokers have quit in the United States. Seventy percent of all smokers today say they want to quit and 35 percent quit at least for one day. The smokeout is a great time to do it! Smoking cigarettes is the No. 1 cause of premature death in America. Nearly 440,000 die annually in the United States and 5 million people die around the world each year from smoking. Jacksonville has had the highest rate of lung cancer deaths in Caucasians for more than 30 years when compared to any metropolitan area in the entire country.

Attending a tobacco cessation program can increase your chances of quitting each year by up to 40 percent or higher.

Here are the current hardcore American tobacco facts today. The facts do not lie:

440,000 Americans die annually from smoking cigarettes

More than 36,000 each month

More than 8,000 per week

More than 1,200 per day

46 million Americans still smoke cigarettes

Currently the military spends approximately 1 billion annually due to smoking related illnesses!

The majority of the deaths are from lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. Current smokers who die from these terrible diseases today started smoking when they were in their teens. Today's smokers are starting younger.

HM2(FMF) Eric Demier of the Naval Hospital Jacksonville Wellness Center, takes AN Joseph McClanahan's blood pressure during the Great American Smokeout event at the Center for Naval Aviation Techinical Training Unit Jax Nov. 15.

These numbers do not include deaths from cigar and pipe smoking and spit tobacco use. Spit tobacco deaths, which are mainly from oral cancers, are approximately 9,000 annually. Accurate and updated statistics on pipe and cigar smoking are unknown at this time due to limited research. Other hardcore tobacco facts:

Cigarettes have 4,000 toxins per puff; 60 are cancer causing.

Cigar smoking is greatly on the increase with women leading the way. Many cigar smokers believe it is not harmful since they do not inhale the smoke. Cigars have 30 times the amount of carbon monoxide then cigarette tobacco and up to 400 milligrams (mg) of nicotine per cigar compared to an average of 1 mg of nicotine per cigarette. Carbon monoxide kills the heart and other vital organs.

Cessation from cigar smoking can be even more difficult due to the tremendous amount of nicotine consumed with each puff.

African American males can reduce their risk of cancer deaths by two-thirds if they would just quit smoking cigarettes.

Lung cancer death in women has increased by more than 600 percent since the 1950's due to the increase in cigarette smoking.

In 1926, cigarettes were first marketed to women as a weight reduction device and today, 80 years later, it still is!

Snuff has three times more nicotine per pinch then one cigarette and 3,000 other toxins.

Chewing tobacco has up to four times the nicotine per ''chaw'' than one cigarette.

Switching from smoking to dipping is not a healthy alternative.

Your body's metabolism can slow down by approximately 10 percent daily when you quit smoking a pack a day. Weight gain occurs if you are sedentary, do not exercise and do not eat healthier.

Here are the hardcore positive physical changes when you stop smoking:

Twenty minutes after last tobacco use:

blood pressure drops to normal

pulse rate drops to normal

temperature of hands and feet return to normal

Naval Hospital Jacksonville Wellness Center Tobacco Treatment Specialist Danny Woodard explains what the damages of chewing tobacco are and describes different alternatives to help ATAN Daryl Hermansen of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jax, quit his habit.

Eight hours:

carbon monoxide level in blood returns to normal

oxygen level in blood increases to normal

Twenty-four hours:

risk of heart attack decreases:

Forty-eight hours

nerve endings start re-growing

ability to smell and to taste increases

Seventy-two hours:

bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier

lung capacity increases.

One to nine months:

coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease

cilia reactivate in lungs, increasing ability to handle mucus, clear the lungs and reduce infection.

Five years:

The risk for lung cancer decreases from 137 per 100,000 people to 72 per 100,000.

Ten years:

Lung cancer death rate for the average smoker drops to 12 deaths per 100,000 - almost the rate of non-smokers.

Pre-cancerous cells are replaced.

The risk for other cancers such as those of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decrease.

Listed below are smoking related common irrational beliefs with rational alternatives. An irrational belief has no evidence, is self-defeating and blocks you from achieving your smoking cessation goals. Irrational ideas are based on your belief system that you have learned and can change:

Irrational - smoking is never a problem for me, even if I smoke to deal with feelings once in awhile. It's other people who have a problem with it.

Rational - smoking to deal with feelings can be a first sign of a problem, and if my smoking is a problem for others, it will be a problem for me.

Irrational - I need a cigarette to relax.

Rational - I want a cigarette but I don't have to have one just because I want one.

Irrational - I can't stand not having what I want; it just seems too hard to tolerate.

Rational - I may not like it but I have stood it in the past and can do it now.

Irrational - The only time I feel comfortable is when I smoke.

Rational - It's hard to learn how to be comfortable socially without cigarettes but people do it all of the time.

Irrational - It would be hard to quit smoking. I would be bored and never comfortable without it.

Rational - While quitting may cost me some things and take time and effort, if I don't, the consequences will be far worse!!

For information on how to quit dipping, chewing or smoking, contact the Wellness Center at 542-5292.