We are now 100 years into an epidemic of avoidable, tobacco-induced health problems and over 50 years into the attempt to stop it, with more knowledge accumulating every year about the toll tobacco smoking takes on every part of the human body. Each year, smoking costs US society $130-170,000,000 in medical care, $150,000,000 in lost productivity and 400,000 lives lost prematurely. Over 160 million people live with serious, smoking related illnesses. Still, 20% of adults smoke regularly, and young people continue to join their ranks. If you never picked up the habit, be glad. If you have picked it up and managed to kick it, congratulations. You are part of a slow public health success story, and, by understanding the smoking habit, you may be able to help someone else quit.

The evolution of cigarettes

Tobacco was the first crop sold for profit by the American colonists, who introduced Europeans to pipe-smoking and tobacco chewing in the 1600s. However, the smoking habit did not begin in earnest until the invention of a cigarette rolling machine in 1883. By the 1940s smokers in the United States lit up 300 billion cigarettes per year and during WWII, soldiers’ ration kits included cigarettes. By the 1950s, 44% of US adults smoked regularly. Psychiatry texts in the 1960s urged doctors to light up with their patients and, by then, cigarette consumption topped 500 billion per year. Older adults today recall being raised in smoke-filled houses, driven around (without seatbelts) in smoke-filled cars, and sent to the corner store to buy cigarettes for their elders.

Recognition of the problem

Though the 1964 Surgeon General’s report confirmed what many people by then knew – that tobacco was bad for health, wrinkled skin prematurely and caused lung cancer, other lung problems and vascular disease  – cigarette consumption rates continued to climb well into the 1980s. But then decades of educational, political, legal and economic pressures on smokers began to work. By 2012, public places were largely free of tobacco smoke, ex-smokers outnumbered active smokers, and cigarette consumption rates had fallen back to the 1940’s levels. Anti-smoking advocates are rightly proud of their efforts, but the credit must also go, in great measure, to the individuals who did battle with the smoking habit and succeeded. Breaking the smoking habit is difficult, often requiring many attempts and relapses before the goal is achieved.

Nicotine is addictive

Smoking becomes a habit because tobacco contains nicotine, which changes the chemistry of the brain in a way that makes the tobacco user uncomfortable when the nicotine level falls. Tobacco companies have exploited the addictive qualities of nicotine by manufacturing their products to diminish negative physical effects and enhance addictive ones. Menthol soothes the smoke-irritated throat. Nicotine is added in just the right dose – not enough to provoke toxic symptoms like nausea, vomiting dizziness and diarrhea, but just enough to ensure the desire for more.

In addition to physical addiction, smokers develop psychological addiction, a learned desire or craving for smoking that arises from the association of smoking’s pleasure with certain situations such as social gatherings, meals, stressful or anxiety provoking circumstances or boredom. Sophisticated advertising techniques add to the social cachet of smoking and subtly enhance these psychological cravings. The combination of physical and psychological addiction means a two-pronged attack is often necessary to help a smoker who wants to quit.

Two-part attack on a two-part addiction

    Physical addiction to any substance produces withdrawal symptoms when the substance is no longer available to the body. In the case of tobacco, irritability, anxiety, insomnia, abdominal cramps and depression occur within hours of smoking cessation. These symptoms peak and begin to diminish within several days and will stop in a predictable period of time – about 2-4 weeks – after the last does of nicotine.

    Since nicotine can be delivered to the brain without the many carcinogenic chemicals in cigarette smoke, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is helpful to someone who is trying to stop a smoking habit, allowing time to deal with the psycho Nicotine is available in non-prescription gums, lozenges and skin patches. Nicotine inhalers and nasal sprays require a prescription. Eventually, though, the physical withdrawal symptoms will have to be suffered when the ex-smoker decides to give up the nicotine.

    E-cigarettes also deliver smoke-free nicotine, by vaporizing it in water. They are highly engineered products containing plastics, ceramics and metals and their long term risks are as yet unknown. Unlike the other nicotine delivery systems, e-cigarettes involve regular smoking behaviors and cannot be expected to help diminish the psychological cravings involved in the habit. 

    Psychological cravings that prompt smoking are often far longer lasting than physical withdrawal symptoms – and more responsible for relapse. In most studies of smoking cessation, behavioral therapy is key to long term cessation. Such intervention can take many forms, including one-on-one counseling, supportive group therapy and even online group participation. Many online resources are available to help smokers cope with this aspect of tobacco addiction. (see list below).

Two drugs are also commonly prescribed to help smokers quit. One, varenicline (Chantrix), attaches itself to nicotine receptors partially stimulating them and relieving withdrawal symptoms and at the same time blocking a sense of reward from inhaled nicotine. Another drug, Bupropion (Wellbutrin), is an antidepressant. These drugs improve smoking cessation rates slightly, and are more effective if used in conjunction with NRT. Both, however, are associated with some troublesome reports of behavioral changes, now noted in black box warnings on their packaging.

The cold turkey method- just as effective 

While public health measures have contributed significantly to decreasing smoking rates, breaking the smoking habit remains an individual project and the single most effective measure a smoker can take to improve health. One curious smoking cessation statistic confirms what many doctors have long observed – that cold-turkey quitting is as effective as any of the assisted methods. It appears that the whole-hearted decision to stop, once made without any reservations, could be the most important factor in long term success. This method has no unwanted side effects or risks and does not require withdrawal of nicotine replacements once the psychological smoking habit is tamed. Non-smokers can play a large role in aiding people whom they care about to make this final decision.

Resources for Smokers Who Want to Quit
http://smokefree.gov/
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/
http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/how-to-quit/
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/quittingsmoking.html