Tobacco Treatment Program at MUSC (Tobacco-Free)
We’ll show you how to conquer your urges, use nicotine-management gums and lozenges, control your environment and get the emotional support you need.
Welcome to the Tobacco Treatment Program at MUSC Health. You’ve made one of the most important decisions in your life for your health and happiness, and our physicians and counselors are here to help you reach your goal. The tools we offer you in this section are based on decades of research and our own clinical experience in helping hundreds of people stay off cigarettes for the rest of their lives, so please know that others have quit for good and you can, too.
We’ll show you how to conquer your urges, use nicotine-management gums and lozenges, control your environment and get the emotional support you need. We are partners in your health. We know you can do this. Let’s get started.
Benefits of Quitting Smoking
Short-Term Benefits
There are many rewards for quitting smoking. You may be able to taste and smell better. You may enjoy having clean hair, clean clothes, clean teeth, fresh breath, and a clean car or clean house. You may be surprised at how fast you are getting your wind back or by how much money you are saving. You may also notice how much others around you appreciate the changes. All ex-smokers notice some of these pleasant changes soon after quitting. These short-term benefits are signs of future pay-offs and can help you stick with it in the early days after quitting. But what are the immediate pay-offs?
Within 12 hours of quitting, your body begins to heal itself. Mucus in your airways begins to break up and clear out of your lungs. Within 24 hours, carbon monoxide clears out of your body, freeing up more oxygen to enable you to breathe better. Within just two days, nicotine is gone from your body and no longer causes your heart to race and your blood pressure to rise, which allows your blood circulation to improve. Your risk of sudden death has been cut in half after two days.
Long-Term Benefits
By quitting smoking, you have already greatly reduced your risk of illness and you have also prolonged your life. The benefits of staying off cigarettes get bigger and better as time goes on. Your wind will continue to get better and better, and so will your pep. Your smoker’s cough will go away for good, and you are likely to catch fewer colds. You’re likely to have fewer major health problems along the way.
Ripple Benefits
Perhaps you’ll see yourself in a new way, as a person you like even more. You may feel better about yourself and about how you relate to others. Maybe you’ll have a new outlook on life, one that makes your daily routine just a little more fun. Ripple benefits such as these aren’t planned for, but they may end up being the best rewards of all. As you work hard to improve one part of your life, other parts may improve as well. For example, quitting will likely save you approximately $85/month, or $1000/year. You may also save money on insurance premiums and medical costs as a result of fewer minor (e.g., colds) and major illnesses. Take time to notice changes in your thoughts and feelings about yourself and your world. As you notice the ripple benefits of quitting, you’ll be happier about having stopped smoking cigarettes and you’ll be less likely to want to start smoking again.
By quitting – even for one day – you will be taking an important step toward a healthier life – one that can lead to reducing your cancer risk. It’s a race for your health.
Enroll in a Program
Preparation is key to successfully quit smoking. Give yourself the best chance to quit and create a quit plan. Quit plans combine strategies to keep you focused and motivated, help you to overcome challenges, and can significantly improve your chances of quitting smoking for good. These resources will support your quit plan.
Smoking Cessation Podcasts
Podcasts and transcripts from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention about smoking cessation.
Quit for Your Family's Sake (0:59)
Transcript:
This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC—safer, healthier people.
Approximately one in five people in the US still smoke despite its well known and highly publicized negative health effects, including cancer and heart disease. It harms nearly every organ of the body. Each year, almost half a million Americans die from this addiction. Quitting smoking has immediate and long term benefits for you and your loved ones.
There are many effective strategies out there to help someone quit smoking, but most smokers don't use them. Proven interventions, such as assistance from a health care provider, medications, and counseling, can increase a smoker's chance for success. Quitting smoking is not easy, but it is worth the effort.
Thank you for joining us on a Minute of Health, with CDC.
For the most accurate health information, visit www.cdc.gov, or call 1-800 CDC-INFO, 24/7.
Smoking Cessation (0:59)
Transcript:
Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults—United States, 2005 to 2012
Recorded: January 21, 2014; posted: January 23, 2014
[Announcer] This program is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cigarette smoking has declined slowly but steadily in the U.S., still over 42 million adults are cigarette smokers and about 33 million of these smokers smoke every day. Smoking remains a leading cause of major health problems and is linked to nearly a half a million deaths each year. Smoking is associated with most cancers, as well as heart disease, stroke, infertility, and asthma. What’s encouraging is that the largest decrease in people who have quit smoking is among 18 to 24 year olds. No matter how long you’ve smoked, quitting can significantly reduce your risk for serious health problems.
Thank you for joining us on A Minute of Health with CDC.
For the most accurate health information, visit www.cdc.gov or call 1-800-CDC-INFO.
Smoking and Ways to Quit (4:17)
Transcript:
This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC—safer, healthier people.
Host: Welcome to a cup of health with CDC, a weekly feature of the MMWR, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. I'm your host, Dr. Robert Gains.
Approximately one in five people in the US still smoke, despite its well-known and highly publicized negative health effects including cancer and heart disease. Each year, almost one half million Americans die from this addiction. There are many effective strategies out there to help someone quit smoking, but most smokers don't use them. Dr. Terry Pechacek is associate director for science in CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. He's joining us today to discuss smoking and ways to quit.
Welcome to the show, Terry.
Dr. Terry Pechacek: Happy to be here with you, Bob.
Host: Terry, is smoking among Americans, increasing or decreasing?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: For the first time ever, less than twenty percent of adults smoke in this country. Unfortunately, smoking rates are declining much slower than they were ten or twenty years ago.
Host: Is smoking more common among any particular groups?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: Smoking rates are higher among men, particularly younger men, and we continue to see very large disparities across income, education, and higher smoking rates within certain racial and ethnic groups such as American Indians and Alaska natives.
Host: What public health strategies can help reach everyone to reduce smoking?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: Increasing the price of cigarettes and other tobacco products, both prevents children from starting to smoke and helps all smokers quit. Banning smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars also makes it much easier for people to quit smoking.
Host: Now you mentioned that banning smoking public places also reduces secondhand smoke. So of all the deaths we know from smoking, how many are actually related to secondhand smoke?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: We estimate that about fifty thousand deaths each year are among people who are not smokers. In other words, it's coming from the secondhand smoke in public places.
Host: So what do we know about how smokers try and quit?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: Many people are trying to quit. About seventy percent want to quit and about forty percent of smokers in this country are trying each year. Unfortunately, most people are trying to quit without the most effective help.
Host: Terry, what interventions are particularly effective in helping someone quit?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: Smokers should be aware that there are treatments and services available that can help them quit now more effectively than ever. Smokers can more than double their likelihood of success in quitting by using the right medications and accessing telephone counseling. To access free counseling from anywhere in the United States, you can call 1(800)QuitNow.
Host: Terry, on a sad note, I understand the CDC and the tobacco control community recently lost one of its leading advocates, Dr. Ron Davis. Can you tell us a little about Dr. Davis's contributions?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: Dr. Davis was a pioneer in changing the priority of prevention in the American Medical Association. Through his teaching and leadership in the field of tobacco prevention and control, he's a beacon of what a difference one person can make.
Host: Terry, where can listeners get more information on how to quit smoking?
Dr. Terry Pechacek: From the CDC website www.cdc.gov/tobacco.
Host: Thanks, Terry. I've been talking with CDC's Dr. Terry Pechacek about smoking. Remember, if you smoke do whatever you can to quit. You're twice as likely to successfully quit if you get help with counseling and medications.
Until next time, be well. This is Dr. Robert Gaines for a cup of health with CDC.
For the most accurate health information, visit www.cdc.gov or call 1(800)CDC-INFO, 24/7.
Snuff Out Smoking (0:59)
Transcript:
This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC—safer, healthier people.
Many people in the United States smoke without ever lighting up. Smoke is dangerous whether you inhale it from a cigarette or breathe it from the air where others around you are smoking.
Secondhand smoke contains more than 50 chemicals that can cause cancer and heart disease among non-smoking adults. In children, it worsens asthma and causes ear infections. It can even cause sudden infant death syndrome.
Many states have outlawed smoking in public places, such as worksites, restaurants, and bars. However, several states still have no restrictions on smoking.
Only completely smoke free environments can fully protect your health. Protect yourself and your family by avoiding secondhand smoke exposure whenever possible.
Thank you for joining us on a Minute of Health, with CDC.
For the most accurate health information, visit www.cdc.gov, or call 1-800 CDC-INFO, 24/7.
