Smoking Cessation
Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. Over 41,000 of these deaths are from breathing secondhand smoke. That’s about one in every five deaths, or 1,300 per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers. Smoking often causes serious health issues, such as heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer, and other cancers. Smoking also increases your risk for blindness.
Other oral and inhaled tobacco products also cause health problems. These products include chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, cigars, and pipes. As with cigarettes, using these products often leads to cancer, heart disease, and other serious health conditions.
Some smokers try “vaping” to help them quit. Vaping is the use of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, which do not contain tobacco but instead heat up nicotine to produce a smoke-like vapor that is then inhaled. Some smokers find that vaping helps them quit smoking for a few months, but they often go back to smoking. A recent study found that after one year since starting to vape, 90% of study participants were still smoking cigarettes.
Quitting tobacco is hard. UAB Medicine wants to help you “kick the habit.” Quitting now is one of the best things you can do for your health. We generally recommend three steps:
- Ask your doctor for medicine to ease your cravings, or choose a nicotine replacement product such as nicotine patches or nicotine gum.
- Get counseling to help you make a plan to quit that fits your lifestyle and preferences. Free counseling is available by calling 1-800-QUITNOW (or en español 1-855-dejelo-ya).
- Get more activity or exercise.
If you are ready to quit, we suggest you start by:
- Watching our Emmi informational video.
- Visiting one of these websites:
- Downloading a free app to your smartphone or tablet that provides assistance in quitting tobacco, such as:
- Quitter’s Circle
- quitSTART
Why UAB
UAB Medicine provides a complete range of primary and specialty care services, as well as the most up-to-date treatments and innovations in health care. It is anchored by UAB Hospital, which was established in 1945 as the teaching hospital for what now is the UAB School of Medicine. One of the largest and most advanced in the nation, UAB Hospital is the centerpiece of a sprawling medical campus that includes numerous research labs and clinics. Among those clinics is The Kirklin Clinic of UAB Hospital, which is home to dozens of medical specialties under one roof and is one of the largest outpatient centers in the nation.
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UPCOMING CLASSES AND EVENTS
- Genome: Unlocking Life's Code
Do you have your mother’s dimples? Or your father’s hairline? What makes us, us? And how much of it actually sets us apart from every other living thing on Earth?
Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code begins to unravel the mystery behind the complete set of instructions needed for every living thing on Earth to grow and function: the genome. Discover how your genome could be the key to maximizing your future quality of life as genomic science helps open the way to more personalized healthcare. See yourself in a new way: as an individual, as a member of a family, and as part of the diversity of life on Earth.
Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code opens January 19 at McWane Science Center and was made possible in part by financial support secured by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. The exhibit is sponsored by UAB Medicine, which is using its knowledge of the human genome to advance the field of precision medicine, an exciting approach to health care that combines the absolute latest in the prediction and prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease to deliver truly individualized patient care.