Smoking Cessation

The author blogs about a particularly affecting lecture and reiterates why you should never miss a chance to offer support for smoking cessation.

I have always wondered why patients who refuse to take a relatively benign medication will completely ignore the adverse effects of the cigarette they put in their mouth 20 times a day. That may be about to change.

When seven tobacco companies' CEOs, one right after the other, swore under oath before a Congressional committee, "I believe that nicotine is not addictive," I actually burst out laughing.

A combination of brief counseling and appropriate pharmacotherapy produces the most promising outcomes for patients willing to quit.

Cigarette smoking is extremely common: in the United States, about 18% of women and 24% of men smoke cigarettes. Smoking increases the risk for various cancers, coronary artery disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysms, upper and lower respiratory tract infections, peptic ulcers, fertility problems, gingival disease, and sexual dysfunction. Among smokers in the United States, about 70% express a desire to quit.