Smoking: Truth and Consequences

Thinking about giving up cigarettes? If you’ve tried before without success, you may feel unsure about whether you can quit for good. Start by considering how kicking the habit will affect your health and life. You can also arm yourself with the latest techniques to help smokers quit. There are now more aids to help smokers become ex-smokers than ever before.

Up in Smoke

When you smoke, toxins are carried by your blood to every organ in your body. At the same time, the carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke keeps red blood cells from carrying as much oxygen as normal. As a result, the cells throughout your body are deprived of the oxygen that they need to work properly.

In the long run, cigarettes rob many smokers of life itself. People who smoke lose an average of 13 to 14 years from their life. Half of all lifetime smokers wind up dying early of smoking-related causes.

Despite these grim statistics, there’s good news, too. For one thing, it’s never too late to stub out that last cigarette. “Even if you’re a 70-year-old who has smoked for decades, you can reap benefits by quitting,” says Norman Edelman, M.D., chief medical officer of the American Lung Association. These benefits start as soon as you quit. Within 20 minutes of quitting, your heart rate drops, and within 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal.

Ready, Set, Quit!

Giving up smoking isn’t easy, but it can be done. There are steps you can take that may make your attempt to quit more successful:

1. Prepare to quit: Recognize your reasons for wanting to quit using tobacco.
2. Review past quit attempts: What worked? What led to a relapse?
3. Have a plan for dealing with temptations: Plan to exercise, call a friend, etc.
4. Set a quit date: Set a date that is generally within 10 days of your decision to quit. This gives you time to prepare.
5. Ask for support: It helps to have the support of family and friends to help you stop using tobacco for good.

Talk to them about how they can help and encourage you, and choose a person you can talk to when you are having a particularly strong urge to smoke. The Wisconsin Tobacco Quit Line is a free, confidential resource for people who are trying to quit smoking or using tobacco. Counselors will help tailor a quitting program to your specific needs. You will also receive a quit kit. Please call 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669).

Dean Health Plan (DHP) would like to support you in your effort to quit using tobacco products. DHP will provide members with Zyban for $10 per month and/or any over-the-counter nicotine-replacement therapy (for example, a patch) for $10 per fill*. Both options require a prescription from your primary care practitioner (PCP). Please talk with your PCP to determine whether this option may be right for you. If you are a state or federal employee or a member of the Medicaid/BadgerCare program, please call our Customer Service Department at 800-279-1301 for information about your tobacco-cessation benefit. The Customer Service Department is open Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

*Good through December 31, 2007

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