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Now is the time to give up tobacco -(Daily American Staff Writer-13/11/2007)

Diane McMahon, Gray, smoked cigarettes for 36 years. A housekeeper at Somerset Hospital, McMahon knew the hospital is going completely tobacco free as of Jan. 1. So when a “quit day” was held Sept. 24, she did. “With the Chantix pills, it was easier than I thought it would be,” she said. “I smoked over a pack a day. I’m a diabetic and I want to see my grandkids grow up.” It’s not necessarily harder to quit if you smoke more cigarettes a day than someone who smokes fewer, Lisa Papini, respiratory therapist, said. But the longer you smoke, the more your tolerance builds. Somerset Hospital is holding a Great American Smokeout event from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 15. Marge Walker, a nurse with Community Connections, said a display will be put up in the main lobby. People may deposit partial packs of cigarettes or cans of tobacco into a trash can and receive a $5 gift certificate to Subway for a “cold turkey” sandwich. Blood pressure and respiratory screenings will be given and people may enroll for smoking cessation classes that are held every Wednesday at the hospital. Lollipops, mints, and anti-smoking literature will also be available. “You may sign a pledge to be smoke-free for one day, and maybe, you’ll give it up forever,” Walker said. Smoking is responsible for one in five deaths in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society. Of acquired behaviors, it is the most preventable cause of premature death. One woman in the class Papini is currently teaching has been smoking for 50 years.

“It’s never too late to quit,” she said. “You begin to have the benefits within 20 minutes of quitting. In 10 years, your lung cancer death rate is similar to people who never smoked.”Many people quit because they have young children or grandchildren. If a person smokes one pack a day in the house with children around, the children have the effect of having smoked four cigarettes a day, she said. “Stress is 98 percent of why people smoke,” she said. “When nicotine goes to the brain, it releases chemicals and gives you pleasure. Many times, people have to break the habit, it’s a lifestyle change.”When you use a medication to stop smoking and attend cessation classes, you have a much higher chance of quitting than if you tried to quit on your own, Papini said. People always ask her about weight gain — the average is seven to nine pounds a year. Chantix, the newest anti-smoking prescription medication works differently in that it attaches to receptors in the brain. It is not a nicotine replacement. Most people take Chantix for three months. One month of the medication is covered by medical insurance and there is funding available for people who don’t have insurance to receive it, Papini said. The financial benefits of not spending money on cigarettes is said to be equal to a trip to the Bahamas for someone who smokes one pack a day. McMahon had “jitters” for 10 minutes one day when she stopped smoking. After the first week, she no longer had an urge to smoke. She feels much better and no longer has shortness of breath while walking up stairs. As more restaurants go smoke-free, she patronizes them, and is no longer willing to sit near a smoker.“When they come in to class, and have quit smoking, they have smiles on their faces and a glow to their skin,” Papini said. “They know they’ve made a difference in their lives.”