For teenagers, parents, and grandparents who smoke and are thus addicted to nicotine, a public service from the American Medical Association:
If you smoke, you have a 50% chance of dying from a smoking-related complication and will live 10 fewer years than if you did not smoke. Despite these risks, 20% of all adult Americans smoke.
You knew that already. Everyone is aware of that. According to Nancy A. Rigotti, M.D. in JAMA:
Most of the 19% of US residents who smoke want to quit and have tried to do so. Most individual quit attempts fail, but two-thirds of smokers use no treatment when trying to quit. Treating tobacco dependence is one of the most cost-effective actions in health care.
For me it’s personal. My mother died at 60. Young. She smoked. She knew the dangers. She tried to stop after she was diagnosed with the cancer that killed her. Too late. Painful.
If you smoke and want to quit (and you DO want to quit), seeing your doctor is the best first step. If you don’t have a personal physician, then you need one. Ask your pediatrician for the name of a good internist or family physician.
Get started now. You owe it to your kids and grandkids. And to yourself.
Dr. Rigotti’s JAMA abstract here:
JAMA Patient Page on smoking cessation here: