Behavioral Therapies Of The National Cancer Institute

The American Heart Association reports an even gloomier number, “Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States. It accounts for more than 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths. Cigarette smokers have a higher risk of developing a number of chronic disorders. (AHA, 2005).

Every year, there are over 400,000 smoking-related deaths in the United States. A large percentage of these are due to lung cancer, whose leading cause is smoking. However, not all deaths are smokers themselves. Anyone in the vicinity can fall victim to second hand smoke. These people, through no action of their own, can have their lives threatened.

Of the roughly 42 million adults in the US that use tobacco, nearly 69% of smokers want to quit and more than 42% of those wishing to quit will make the attempt through various methods(1). These methods range from the "cold turkey" method, nicotine replacement therapy, behavioural therapy and even medicine. Each method has it's unique strengths and weaknesses as well as varying success rates. There are many reasons to quit and many ways in which to do so, either with methods that involve slowly weaning off of nicotine, like gums and patches from replacement therapy, to nicotine-free methods which require support from various sources.

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms include tobacco cravings, headache, nausea, fatigue, drowsiness, insomnia, irritability, anxiety, and depressed mood. Tobacco addiction often takes several tries to quit and a doctor should be seen if needed. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse a combination of both behavioral interventions and medication to help people quit smoking are more affective then either alone. Behavioral treatments range from self-help skills to counseling, as well as help in identifying high risk situations and how to deal with them. Nicotine replacement treatments like nicotine gum, nicotine patches, lozenges and inhalers can help to relieve withdrawal symptoms. There are now medications that can help with smoking cessation, they can target nicotine receptors in the brain, easing withdrawal and blocking the effects of nicotine

Smokers smoke around the premises of others who do not want to be inhaling the smoke without their consent. 53,800 people die every year from secondhand smoke exposure. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the U.S. More than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke. This is about one in five deaths or 1,300 deaths every day. This is important because many people die and as a result, leave their family members to mourn in the loss of their loved ones. For every person who dies because of smoking, at least thirty people live with a serious smoking related illnesses. According to NFPA, careless smoking habits can be responsible for 56% of all residential fires from which a lost live has been included. From these fatalities, 46% resulted from burning bedding materials. 43% from upholstery and 7% from clothing fabrications. This is important because, approximately 1,000 children, adults, and elders, are killed annually due to cigarette ignited fires, and an additional 3,000 are severely

There are many people that die a year from lung cancer. Around 6 million people die a year in the US from tobacco use. According to Center for Disease Control (CDC), smokers will die at least 10 years earlier than nonsmokers. At least 1,300 people die a day from smoking. Also, according to CDC, if smoking continues at this rate then 5.6 million Americans under the age of 18 are expected to die

Nicotine withdrawal cluster comprise of craving for tobacco, depressed mood, irritability, agitation, frustration, anger, restlessness, coughing, dizziness.

Smoking adversely affects almost every organ in the smoker’s body (CDC, 2014). The harm does not stop there: The damaging effects of smoking go beyond the smoker. Being exposed to secondhand smoke can cause severe health problems and even death. (NIDA, 2015). It can be difficult for a smoker to quit smoking because of the addictive properties contained in Nicotine. Just like with many other addictive drugs, when a smoker tries to quit, there is a period of withdrawal causing symptoms such as irritability, nervousness, sadness, insomnia and a greater appetite. There are many forms of assistance available to smokers in order to help modify their harmful behavior. With the assistance of a counselor, medications, or other available self-help tools, smokers can learn how to develop coping strategies when faced with a nicotine

With cigarettes costing the smoker $5.51 a pack, if an individual smokes one pack of cigarettes a day it costs him or her $2,011.15 a year. The cost to society and the state’s economy totals $6,588.25 a year, for each one pack a day smoker.

2. 45 million adults in the US are Tobacco smokers and 126 million are non-smokers but are being exposed to second-hand smoke.

Another huge tobacco-related health problem is secondhand smoke. It is known to cause approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 heart disease deaths in nonsmokers each year. By definition it is a mixture of smoke given off by the burning end of tobacco products and the smoke exhaled by smokers. Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000

Attention getter: According to Tobacco-Free Kids, “about 400,000 people die from their own smoking each year, and about 50,000 die from second-hand smoke annually. Smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, illegal drugs, murders and

a. Attention Getter: Each year, primarily because of exposure to secondhand smoke, an estimated 3,000 nonsmoking Americans die of lung cancer.

Support groups and treatment will probably be necessary to break the cycle of addiction, but lifestyle changes can also bring positive changes and greatly improve the situation.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, secondhand smoke causes over 34,000 premature deaths from heart disease per year in the U.S. among nonsmokers.