The Health Consequences of Smoking-50 Years of Progress

The Health Consequences of Smoking-50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General was released on Jan. 17, a half century after the historic 1964 Surgeon General's report that concluded that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. Since that time, smoking has been identified as a cause of serious diseases of nearly all the body's organs. 

Today, scientists add diabetes, colorectal and liver cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction, age-related macular degeneration, and other conditions to the list of diseases that cigarette smoking causes. In addition, the report concludes that secondhand smoke exposure is now known to cause strokes in nonsmokers.

For the full report, executive summary, consumer guide and PSA, visit http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/reports/50-years-of-progress/index.html.

For free help quitting smoking, visit www.tobaccofreemaine.org or call 1-800-207-1230

Youth smoking

On Thursday, the Surgeon General today released the report Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults, which details the scope, health consequences, and influences that lead to youth tobacco use and proven strategies that prevent its use.

The Surgeon General also unveiled a guide with practical information on addressing tobacco use in young people, Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: We Can Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable and premature death, killing more than 1,200 Americans every day.  For every tobacco-related death, two new young people under the age of 26 become regular smokers.  Nearly 90 percent of these replacement smokers try their first cigarette by age 18.  Approximately 3 out of 4 high school smokers continue to smoke well into adulthood.

For more information, visit http://go.usa.gov/PB3

Copies of the full Report, executive summary, and the easy-to-read guide may be downloaded at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov. To order printed copies of these documents go to http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco and click on the Publications Catalog link under Tools & Resources.

For access to quitting resources visit www.tobaccofreemaine.org or www.smokefree.gov

Quit Smoking in 2012

As the New Year begins, resolve to make 2012 the year that you quitsmoking. The New Year is a symbol of renewal and can be a time to prepare for new beginnings. It is a time to set goals and make them public so that you can get support and encouragement from friends and family. Many smokers use the New Year's holiday as motivation to quit. For some, this is the first time they've tried to quit; for others, they may have tried before. Regardless, this may be the most important resolution a smoker ever makes.

Local help is available to help you quit for good this year through www.thequitlink.com or by calling 1-800-207-1230.

Other online cessation services and resources are also available:

• www.smokefree.gov provides free, accurate, evidence-based information and professional assistance to help support the immediate and long-term needs of people trying to quit smoking.
• women.smokefree.gov provides free, accurate, evidence-based information and professional assistance to help support the immediate and long-term needs of women trying to quit smoking.
• www.ucanquit2.org is a U.S. Department of Defense-sponsored Web site for military personnel and their families.

The National Cancer Institute has launched SmokefreeTXT, a free text message cessation service that provides 24/7 encouragement, advice, and tips to teens trying to quit smoking. For more information: http://go.usa.gov/5Sd

Once they sign up, teens receive text messages timed according to their selected quit date. Following their quit date, they will continue receiving texts for up to six weeks — a critical piece of the SmokefreeTXT service, as research shows that cessation support continues to be important beyond the first few weeks of quitting. Teens can sign up online at teen.smokefree.gov or text QUIT to iQUIT (47848).

Great American Smokeout

The 36^th Great American Smokeout will be held Nov. 17, encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day.

In addition, the Maine Tobacco HelpLine (1-800-207-1230) celebrates its 10^th anniversary this month. The HelpLine has served more than 75,000 customers in 10 years, reaching an average of 3% of smokers annually – a rate that is ranked fourth in the U.S.

The HelpLine is one facet of the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine (PTM). The adult smoking rate in Maine has dropped from 30% when PTM began in 1997 to 18% in 2010.

One of the hardest things to do is to quit using tobacco. Quitting is a process and sometimes it takes more than one try. The HelpLine offers support that can help people stay tobacco-free for life. The Maine Tobacco HelpLine answers questions and offers friendly support to those who are thinking about quitting or who are ready to quit smoking, or those who want to help a friend or family member quit.

For more information, visit http://www.tobaccofreemaine.org/ 

New report on smoking from the Surgeon General

The US Surgeon General has released a new report titled How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease, which finds that even occasional smoking or secondhand smoke causes immediate damage to the body that can lead to serious illness or death. The report is available at http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/tobaccosmoke/index.html

For more information about the report, see this US HHS press release: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/12/20101209a.html

For information and resources to quit smoking, visit www.tobaccofreemaine.org