SUNY Fredonia Home pageA-Z Site Index  

Health Matters Newsletter

H1N1 Flu: What you should know!

National Smokeout Day

By: Donald J. Schier

On SUNY Fredonia’s campus, it is not uncommon to see a fellow student standing outside of an academic building, a dining hall, or a residence hall smoking a cigarette. They are mandated to stay 50 feet away from the building while they have a cigarette, but we know this slides and is not enforced. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have that enforced and not be surrounded by smokers as you try to enter a building for class? Has it ever occurred to you that not only are they having a negative effect on their body, but on yours as well? It is scary to think that someone else’s actions can have a direct effect on your health. That is why the SUNY Fredonia campus needs your help.

On Thursday, November 20th, it is the 33rd Great American Smokeout day, which was started by the American Cancer Society to help spread awareness about issues pertaining to smoking and how it affects everyone around them. They do this through educational programming that is startling but to the fact. They do not want to sugar coat the issue of smoking because it does have negative effects on people. By smoking, it has been found that you are damaging not just your lungs, but also many other organs in your body, including your heart and kidneys. It can also lead to multiple types of cancer which can be life threatening.

Our campus on the 20th, Colleges Against Cancer and the Better You Crew will be trying to extend the education and information given to college students about the dangers of smoking. All day, cars will be driving around campus with statistics about the harmful effects of smoking and what it does to the human body, whether it be to the smoker itself or from a victim of second hand smoke. There will also be informational table tops all over campus that will give more statistics and also ways to go about combating the urge to smoke and ways to tell people not to smoke around you.

There are resources for smokers to take advantage of to help them quit if that is something they desire. One resource is a hotline set up by the American Cancer Society. As stated on their website, you can call the American Cancer Society Quitline® at 1-800-227-2345. This is a hotline for people who plan to quit and want to be able to speak with a trained counselor and receive free, confidential counseling on how to go about quit smoking.  Also, there are resources on campus to help smokers quit. Over in the counseling center, there is a program that can help you quit smoking and break the addiction one has to it. All you have to do is go over to Lograsso and talk with a counselor who can help you start this new commitment and also be there as a support system for you.

Smoking is a habit that can be broken, and you should either think about quitting or encourage a friend to quit smoking. By doing so, you are helping them out in the long run when it comes to their health, and even extending their life. Take advantage of the resources around you and Smokeout day and help yourself, or a friend.

When Smokers Quit - The Health Benefits Over Time

  • 20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops
  • 12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
  • 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
  • 1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucous, clean the lungs and reduce the risk of infection.
  • 1 year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.
  • 5 years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.
  • 10 years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's.  The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix and pancreas decrease.
  • 15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker's.

November 2009

The Great American Health Challenge

Welcome to the Health Matters Newsletter, published monthly by the Health Center and part of the weekly Campus Report.  Its purpose is to share information regarding pertinent medical issues with students, faculty, and staff here at SUNY Fredonia. This article is dedicated to the Great American Smoke Out.

Quitting is not easy, but it can be done.  To have the best chance of quitting successfully, you need to know what you are up against, what your options are, and where to go for help. The American Cancer Society continues its legacy of providing free resources to help smokers quit.  The Great American Smokeout was inaugurated in 1976 to inspire and encourage smokers to quit for at least one day. 

Every year, on the third Thursday of November, November 19, 2009, smokers across the nation take part in the Amercian Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout by smoking less or quitting for the day.  The event challenges people to stop using tobacco, and helps make people aware of the many tools they can use to quit for good.  

Why do those who smoke ever begin?

There is more than just one simple answer to this question.  Some kids may start smoking just because they are curious.  Others may like the idea of doing something dangerous, that is something that grownups do not want them to do.  Still others might know lots of people who smoke and they might think it's a way to act or look like an adult.  The unfortunate fact is that these kids that begin to smoke are not looking further into the future to see the probable effects, such as cancer and heart disease,  that smoking places on their body. 

What are the immediate problems that smoking can cause?

  • Bad breath
  • Yellow Teeth
  • Smelly clothes
  • More coughs and colds
  • Difficulty keeping up with friends when playing sports
  • An empty wallet - cigarettes and tobacco products are very expensive

Is there a difference between the tobacco that you smoke and smokeless tobacco?

Tobacco is a plant that can be smoked in cigarettes, pipes or cigars.  It is the same plant that is in smokeless tobacco such as dip, chew, snuff, spit or chewing tobacco.  Smokeless tobacco is not lit or inhaled like tobacco in cigarettes, pipes and cigars.  Instead, smokeless tobacco is put between the lip and gum and sucked on inside the mouth.

Tobacco contains nicotine, a chemical that causes a tingly or pleasant feeling.  This feeling only lasts for a little while.   Nicotine is addictive, meaning that your body and mind will become so used to it that you will need to have it to just feel OK.  Anyone who starts smoking could become addicted to it.  If you are addicted to something, it is very hard to stop doing it, even if you want to.   Some kids get addicted right away.  Most adults are often addicted, which is why so many of them have a hard time quitting smoking.

Why is tobacco so bad for you?

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the United States.  Each year, smoking accounts for an estimated 443,000 premature deaths., including 38,000 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke.  Half of all Americans who continue to smoke will die from smoking-related disease.  Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body; causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.  More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined.

Smoking can cause Cancer

Cancer is the second leading cause of death and was among the first disease causally linked to smoking.  Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in mean and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in women.   The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes, and about 13 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with never smokers.

Smoking causes cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box) , esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach, and can cause forms of leukemia as well. 

Rate of cancers related to cigarette smoking vary widely among members of racial/ethnic groups, but are generally highest among African-American men.

Smoking can cause Heart Disease

Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.  Cigarette smokers are 2-4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than nonsmokers.

Cigarette smoking approximately doubles a person's risk for stroke.

Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels (arteries).  Smokers are more than 10 times as likely as nonsmokers to develop peripheral vascular disease.

Smoking can cause Lung Disease

Cigarette smoking is associated with a tenfold increase in the risk of dying from chronic obstructive lung disease.  About 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung diseases are attributable to cigarette smoking.

Cigarette smoking has many adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, including an increased risk of infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Postmenopausal women who smoke have lower bone density than women who never smoked.  Women who smoke have an increased risk for hip fracture than never smokers.  

How do I quit?

1) Pick a day that you will stop smoking and stick to it.

2) Get a friend to quit with you - you can encourage each other.

3) Remove all ashtrays, matches, etc. from your home.

4) Keep healthy snacks handy, such as cheese, fresh fruit and vegetables, sugarless gum and mints.

5) Drink lots of liquids such as water, Gatorade, tea.

6) Keep Busy!! Do thing with your hands such as letter writing, crafts, needle work.

7) Start exercising to relieve the tension.

8) Put your cigarette money aside and buy yourself something wild!

Additional Resources

 
Page modified 11/2/09