Idea #317 for January 1st, 2010: Smoke Free 2010 or New Year’s Resolution For Health

With the new year upon us, there may be no better time to begin a smoking cessation program. Quitting smoking is one of the most popular new year’s resolutions, and with good reason. To help ensure success, there are a few things smokers should keep in mind before starting the process. For starters, seeking the advice of a healthcare provider and considering medications to ease the withdrawal symptoms may prove beneficial. Also, exercising can help reduce stress and prevent weight gain associated with quitting. And joining a support group may make the process easier to deal with. No matter what method is used to get there, quitting smoking is one of the healthiest choices you can make in 2010.

Read more about quitting here.

Idea #307 for December 22nd, 2009: Any Time Is The Right Time or Quitting Smoking Offers Benefits Even After Lung Cancer Diagnosis

It’s never too late to quit smoking. New research finds that quitting smoking even after being diagnosed with lung cancer can improve the chances of survival. In fact, patients who quit smoking after an early stage lung cancer diagnosis double their 5-year survival rate. However, only 20% of lung cancers are caught at this early stage, so early detection is still the most important part. The benefits of quitting smoking may not apply to patients in later stages of the disease. Still, this finding offers hope to thousands who may have otherwise figured it was too late to quit. Smoking cessation programs should be strongly encouraged for all cancer patients — and especially those in the early stages of lung cancer.

Read more about this study here.

Idea #305 for December 20th, 2009: Saving Money In The Long-Run or Paying For Medicaid Patients to Quit Smoking

A change in Medicaid led to a significant drop in smoking among Medicaid patients in Massachusetts, and federal legislators have taken notice. The state began paying for counseling and drugs for smoking cessation two years ago. Since then, the smoking rate among Medicaid patients has fallen by 25%. At the same time, the smoking rate among uninsured patients in that state remained unchanged. Two senators have introduced an amendment to the healthcare bill that would require Medicaid to cover similar anti-smoking treatments. Based on the success in Massachusetts, it’s a sensible step to take in the fight against smoking nation-wide.

Read more about this here.

Idea #294 for December 9th, 2009: A Missed Opportunity or States Cutting Anti-Smoking Program Funding

I’ve written before about the embarrassingly low percentage of tobacco settlement funds that states have actually used for tobacco prevention programs, as they were intended to be used. Now there’s news that the percentage has been cut back even smaller by many states. Faced with budget crises, states have cut tobacco prevention funding by 15% in the last year, with New York leading the way with a more than 30% decrease in spending for the programs.

Overall, states are projected to spend about half a billion dollars on anti-tobacco programs in 2010. That represents only 2.3% of the $25 billion in tobacco tax and settlement funds they pull in. To put that in perspective, the tobacco industries will spend twenty times that amount in the coming year on marketing their products. While it’s not expected that states spend 100% — or even 50% — of the tobacco revenue on smoking prevention programs, they have to do a lot better than 2%. It’s even more important now that smoking rates have leveled off after years of decline.

Read more about this issue here.

Idea #287 for December 2nd, 2009: Making It Count or Life Expectancy May Drop In The Future

Smoking rates in this country are expected to continue to decline, which under normal circumstances would be accompanied by an increase in life expectancy for Americans. However, experts say life expectancy will actually fall in the future. What gives? Again, it comes back to obesity. The incidence of obesity is expected to rise, which will wipe out any gains made by decreasing smoking.

It’s heartening that we’ve made a lot of progress in smoking cessation, and it would be a shame if all that effort was canceled out by another one of our vices: over-eating. By now, we all realize that obesity is a huge problem that threatens to shorten our lives and bankrupt our healthcare system. Fixing it will be difficult, and will have to be fought on many fronts. This new data is just another reminder about how dire the situation is if we remain content with the status quo.

Read more about this issue here.

Idea #270 for November 15th, 2009: Pick Up The Phone or The Best Way To Conduct Telephone Counseling For Smoking Cessation

Telephone counseling can be a helpful tool in combating smoking. However, the way in which the calls are carried out is a vital factor in their success. New research shows that counseling that requires the smoker to take the initiative and place the telephone call is not as effective as pro-active counseling that involves counselors calling patients on a set schedule.

The new study involved about 1,000 smokers who were either mailed smoking cessation materials, or who were given the opportunity to initiate phone counseling calls. The schedule of the calls were up to the smokers to determine. After a year, there was no significant difference in smoking abstinence rates between the two groups, indicating that this type of counseling is no more effective than mailing out anti-smoking documents. Past research, though, has demonstrated the effectiveness of pro-active phone counseling that follows a set schedule and is initiated by the counselor.

All this is important because every state now has smoking cessation phone lines. While many do follow the pro-active model, there is no standard and methods vary widely. This study suggests that those that do not employ pro-active techniques are likely wasting time and money. Another problem is that only 1% of smokers actually use the lines. More publicity of these phone lines is needed, as well as consistent methodology that greatly improves patients’ chances of quitting.

Read more about this study here.

Idea #267 for November 12th, 2009: Stalled Progress or Making Sure Smoking Rates Continue to Decline

We’ve made a lot of progress in smoking cessation over the last several decades, but over the last five years, the smoking rate has stopped declining in the US. Over the decade ending in 2008, the CDC reports that the percentage of people who smoked dropped from 24.1% to 20.6%. However, in 2007 the rate was 19.8%, so there was a slight rise in the rate of smoking from 2007 to 2008. It’s a trend that we have to focus on changing.

Part of the problem is being traced to insufficient state spending on anti-tobacco programs. In the last decade, states have received over $200 billion in tobacco revenue, yet only 3% of that has gone towards anti-smoking programs. If that amount was bumped up to 15% — still just a fraction of the overall revenue — then anti-smoking programs could be funded at levels the CDC recommends. Additionally, states that have made laws regarding smoke-free restaurants and other areas have seen smoking rates drop. While much has been accomplished over the last few decades as far as smoking cessation, there is still a lot more we could be doing, especially considering how little of our states’ tobacco revenue is going towards anti-smoking causes.

Read more about this here.

 

Idea #257 for November 2nd, 2009: Not Just Cold Turkey or Testing The Most Effective Smoking Cessation Products

People looking to quit smoking are faced with choosing among several different smoking cessation products. There are multiple patches, lozenges, and pills available for the treatment of nicotine addiction. But which are most effective? Researchers from the University of Wisconsin attempted to find that out in a study of 1,500 smokers.

The study separated smokers into five different treatment groups. The five treatments were nicotine patch, nicotine lozenge, Bupropion (an antidepressant), patch plus lozenge, and Bupropion plus lozenge. After six months, all five of the treatments were found to result in more nonsmokers than a placebo. The best method, though, was the patch plus lozenge, which led to participants having a 234% better chance abstaining from cigarettes. That group was also less likely to eventually relapse and start smoking again.

The reason the patch/lozenge method is effective is likely because a patch provides a constant amount of nicotine, while the lozenge can be used at times when there is a craving for even more nicotine. For people who are motivated to quit smoking, using the patch along with nicotine lozenges appears to be an effective combination for kicking the habit — more so than Bupropion.

Read more about the study here.

Idea #254 for October 30th, 2009: Another Reason To Quit or Smoking a Single Cigarette Can Harden Arteries

A few days ago, this blog dealt with the issue of occasional smokers, and how that particular group is often overlooked by researchers and providers alike. Now there’s more evidence that even the occasional cigarette is indeed harmful. The study found that even one cigarette will temporarily harden the arteries of young adults by 25%.

The study specifically looked at the effects of smoking before exercise and involved subjects between 18-30 years old who smoked about five cigarettes daily as well as non-smokers. Before exercising, both the smokers and non-smokers had the same level of arterial stiffness. Prior to exercise, the smoking group was allowed to smoke a single cigarette, and all participants were assessed on the hardness of their arteries afterward.

In non-smokers, arterial stiffness actually decreased slightly after exercise. In smokers, the stiffness increased by 25%. Even for members of the smoking group who did not have a cigarette before exercise, their arterial stiffness still rose slightly following exercise. The effects of this hardening can make the vascular system less able to deal with physical stress, like running. This is further evidence that occasional smoking — even in young adults — can have quantifiable negative effects on health. Smoking just a few cigarettes a day is a harmful activity, despite what the occasional smoker may believe.

Read more about this issue here.

Idea #249 for October 25th, 2009: A Small Habit or Occasional Smokers Deserve More Attention

Much effort has been made in recent years to curb smoking in this country. Studies and statistics in this area often define people as smokers or non-smokers. But there is another group that sometimes gets lost in the mix: occasional smokers. People in this group might smoke on a non-daily basis or just in social situations, but are involved in an unhealthy habit nonetheless.

Occasional smokers have increased in number coinciding with the rise of smoking bans in restaurants and workplaces, probably because some former full-time smokers have had to cut back to the point of smoking only on occasion. They tend to be younger than other smokers, with many in their twenties. They often do not label themselves smokers and feel that the health risks associated with daily smokers do not necessarily apply to them. Studies have shown that occasional smokers are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other problems, though.

The main point is that this group is often overlooked in medical research on smokers because they don’t solidly fit in any group. And they are sometimes overlooked by providers trying to screen for smokers, because they may not label themselves as such. If occasional smokers are included in more smoking studies, we will be able to devise smoking cessation programs to meet the needs of this particular group in the future.

Read more about the issue in the LA Times.