Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Tobacco's effect on US healthcare
The US spends about $1 trillion dollars a year on healthcare. From limited experience looking at the patients admitted to hospitals, at least ten percent of the nation's healthcare expense is spent on treating the side effects of tobacco smoking: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms, etc. For a closer impact, when waiting for hours in the ER to get seen by a physician, that physician is probably taking care of 2-3 patients with conditions related to cigarette smoking.
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Tobacco Effect:Anyone who has ever tried to quit chewing knows that it is difficult. Doctors are saying that chewing tobacco is even more addictive than smoking. In fact, a person taking 8-10 "chews" a day receive as much nicotine in a day as to a person that smokes 30-40 cigarettes a day.
Tips on how to stop.
1. Decide you are going to stop. This is the first step in breaking any habit, and overcoming any addiction, and until you make up your mind to do it, you have little chance of success.
2. Remove the temptation. Chewing tobacco is not as easy to "bum" as are cigarettes and not having any on hand will make it easier to resist the urge.
3. Substitute bubble gum, hard candy, or beef jerky if the desire to have something in your mouth is overwhelming. This will do absolutely nothing for the nicotine craving (the chemical dependency), but it will act as a placebo for your desire to chew.
4. Take a day at a time. Since with most addictions, the first day is usually the hardest, it may help to substitute the nicotine in your tobacco with a nicotine patch or gum, but use this sparingly, and decrease the amount incrementally so that after a reasonable period, you will be completely free of the chemical dependency.
5. Keep yourself busy. Starting to quit this habit when you have a lot of idle time may be difficult, since the idea of having a chew is always right there. If you are involved in something which keeps your mind occupied, there will be less time thinking about what you are missing.
6. Give yourself a "pat on the back" for each milestone you pass. This can be defined as the first hour, day, and then week of tobacco free living.
7. Educate yourself on the dangers and effects of tobacco and the chemicals it contains. This should help you to make a firm and lasting decision on leaving this habit behind you, since the effects of tobacco on your teeth, gums, mouth, and health can be quite devastating.
Best regards
www.stopsmokinghabits.com
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