Smoking Cessation
Overview: Smoking causes cancer, heart attacks, hardening of the arteries, bronchitis, emphysema, cough, shortness of breath, wrinkles, and premature aging. It stains teeth and fingers, irritates the eyes and causes bad breath. Collectively, smoking and secondhand smoke contribute to 1,200 deaths in the US a day.
Smoking is also harmful for people around you. The smoke exhaled by smokers and given off by the burning cigarette, pipe or cigar can cause cancer and heart disease in nonsmokers. People, especially children, who live with smokers have more colds and are more likely to have asthma.
It takes time to reverse many years’ worth of smoking damage to your body, but some benefits of quitting smoking begin right away. Your risk of heart disease begins to decrease right away. Your blood circulation is likely to get better, so your hands and feet may feel warmer. Your teeth and fingers will gradually lose their nicotine stain. Your breath will be fresher. You may no longer cough. You may have more energy. Other, less obvious benefits that begin to occur include more resistance to colds and other respiratory infections. Your risk of high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attack also begins to decrease, as does your risk for smoking-related cancers.
What Thielen Student Health Center Can Do For You: If you are interested in smoking cessation, you can call Thielen Student Health Center at 515-294-5801 for an appointment with your primary care physician. There are prescription medications that your doctor can prescribe to help with smoking cessation. He can also give you information and tips to help you quit successfully.
You can also call the Wellness Center at 294-1868. They are located on the 2nd floor of the Thielen Student Health Center. The Wellness Center offers individual sessions for students and their spouses/domestic partner, and can be used in conjunction with a group, or on it’s own as a source of support. This service is free of charge. You can find more information concerning their programs at http://www.health.iastate.edu/wellness/
Resources
- American Cancer Society: Smoking Cessation
- American Lung Association
- National Institutes of Health: Smoking Cessation
Last update: 09 Dec 2008
For more information, please contact:
Iowa State University
Thielen Student Health Center
515-294-5801
