You Can Quit Smoking—And We Can Help
Smoking causes an estimated 90 percent of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80 percent of all lung cancer deaths in women. Quitting can thwart lung cancer’s negative effects, and this program ensures you have the tools to kick the habit. Patients who are part of the high-risk lung cancer screening program are also entitled to a free tobacco dependence assessment.
Staffed with trained professionals who understand how difficult it is to quit, the program utilizes evidence-based tools to assist you with quitting smoking. The program is designed to help you target behavioral modification and create a customized clinical treatment that suits your needs. The combination of these two processes will ensure a successful and supportive method towards quitting nicotine addiction. The program length varies based on the needs of each patient.
As part of the program, participants receive:
- Counseling from a trained Tobacco Treatment Specialist.
- A customized quit smoking plan to meet your needs.
- Ongoing individual or group counseling.
- Educational information on the latest prescription and non-prescription smoking medications.
Benefits of Quitting Smoking
Your body will begin to repair itself as soon as you stop smoking—and you’ll feel the health benefits for the rest of your life.
- 20 minutes after stopping, your blood pressure and pulse rate will return to normal. Circulation improves in hands and feet, making them warmer.
- Eight hours after stopping nicotine and carbon monoxide, levels in the blood will be cut by half and oxygen levels will return to normal. Chances of heart attack start to fall.
- 24 hours after stopping the level of carbon monoxide in your body will be that of a non-smoker and your lungs will start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.
- 48 hours after stopping your body is becoming free of nicotine and your sense of taste and smell is improving
- 72 hours after stopping you should be breathing more easily. Airway passages in the lungs begin to relax. Energy levels increase.
- From five to 15 years after quitting tobacco, stroke risk is reduced to that of people who have never smoked.
- At 10 years smoke-free, your risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers. Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas—as well as ulcers—decreases.
- By 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease is now similar to that of people who have never smoked. And your mortality risk returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked.