More than 4,400 Iowans die each year from their smoking habit. Another 480 will die from exposure to secondhand smoke.
The Great American Smokeout spotlights the health dangers of tobacco use and the importance of quitting smoking.
Jeffery Wilson, MD, pulmonary specialist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, talks about the dangers of smoking, and the benefits of quitting:
What are the health effects of smoking?
Smoking is a systemic disease. We think about the risk of developing diseases like lung cancer, emphysema, and heart attacks, but there's really a lot more to the health effects of smoking.
For example, it's a risk factor for multiple other cancers, including bladder, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer, liver cancer, and cancers of the mouth and throat.
It also causes a variety of other diseases (or contributes to them) that we don't often think about. For example, osteoporosis—thinning of the bones—is made worse by smoking. There are eye problems such as macular degeneration, a common cause of blindness in the older population, that's contributed to by smoking. Smoking is actually a risk factor for developing diabetes.
In addition, if you're going to have surgery, it contributes to poor wound healing and many surgeons are concerned about operating on people who are smokers because of that.
What is second-hand smoke, and is it just as dangerous as smoking?
Second-hand smoke is a combination of what they call ‘side stream smoke,' which comes off of a lighted cigarette, and also the smoke that is inhaled and then exhaled by the smoker. It has higher concentrations of many toxic compounds than inhaling the primary smoke does.
Over the last 10 or 20 years, it's been found that second-hand smoke—or passive smoke—is extremely dangerous in a variety of fashions. In the United States it's estimated that up to 40,000 people die from heart disease each year. In communities where they've been able to pass smoke-free public ordinances, they've been able to show a reduction in the risk of having a heart attack.
In children, it's a risk factor for a variety of respiratory problems, including an increased risk of colds, bronchitis, pneumonias, and also a risk factor for developing asthma and ear infections. Parents who smoke and have young children should be motivated to try to quit smoking, and at the very least, not smoke around their kids.
How does smoking affect the risk of developing respiratory disease?
In the common respiratory diseases, such as emphysema and lung cancer, the primary risk factor for developing those is cigarette smoking. We rarely see people with lung cancer or emphysema who have been non-smokers—although it does occur. If you're not a smoker, it would be very unusual to get those diseases. Other respiratory conditions like asthma are made much worse by smoking and we often see people with very difficult to control asthma that is due to the cigarette smoking.
Will smoking increase the risk of developing heart disease?
Yes, smoking is a primary risk factor for developing a heart attack. For both women and men, the relative risk of developing a heart attack is somewhere in the three- to six-fold increase for people who smoke a pack a day or more.
Does smoking affect reproductive health?
It's known now that it causes many problems in that area. For example, mothers who smoke are at increased risk of having a low birth weight infant. They have more difficulty with infertility. Smoking while pregnant is also a risk factor for sudden infant death syndrome.
We know smoking increases the risk of developing cancer, by what percent? How much more likely is a smoker to develop cancer?
If you look at lung cancer, which is now the most common cause of cancer deaths in both the United States and the world, the risk of developing lung cancer in a smoker is somewhere between 10 and 30-fold increased. For an individual, the cumulative risk of developing lung cancer in a smoker now may be as high as 30 percent.
How does nicotine affect the body, and how long does it stay in the body?
Nicotine is a really interesting compound. It is both a stimulant as well as a relaxant; and many people don't realize that it also acts as a euphoriant—it really does make people feel good—which is a large part of why they smoke.
It has a half-life of several hours, meaning that when a smoker goes to bed at night and wakes up in the morning, the nicotine is mostly gone, which is one of the reasons why many smokers feel like they need to have a cigarette when they first wake up.
What are the health benefits of quitting smoking?
We tell our patients that it's never too late to quit, no matter what's happening with them.
For example, the risk of a heart attack, which is significantly elevated in smokers, will go down to that of a non-smoker within a year or two after they've quit smoking.
The risk of lung cancer also goes down after you've quit, although it takes longer to reduce that risk. Many of the detrimental effects of smoking are reversible and it's never too late to stop.
In Iowa, what are the first steps a tobacco user can do, to stop smoking?
The first thing is for people to realize that it's never too late to stop and to make up their mind that they really want to make a serious quit attempt.
They should talk to their physician about who can help with counseling and prescribing different types of pharmacological help when it's appropriate.
And also people should be aware of Quitline http://www.quitlineiowa.org/ in Iowa, which is 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669), which they can call for help with stopping.
How quickly does the body begin to recover after a person stops smoking?
Very early. After they've quit, people can often begin to have less cough and phlegm production. Over a period of months to a couple of years, they will have a reduction in the risk of heart disease. So it begins early and it will go on for several years.
If a smoker is not successful in his fist attempt to quit, does it mean he will never be able to quit?
No. We regularly tell people to keep trying because most successful quitters found that they've tried on an average somewhere between six or eight times before they've been able to successfully stop. |
