Smoking Cessation Services

Publicly available data from large search engines suggest that 4 million Americans search for resources on smoking cessation each year. This study adds to the limited data available on individuals who search for smoking cessation information on the Internet, supports the prior estimates of the size of the population, and indicates that these individuals are in appropriate stages for both active cessation interventions and aggressive relapse prevention efforts.

Fox found that 79% of surveyed individuals had ever searched for health or medical information, while 7% had searched for smoking cessation information. The primary purpose of this study was to characterize individuals who search for smoking cessation information. To determine the generalizability of our sample, national datasets on search engine usage patterns, market share, and keyword rankings were examined.

These datasets were then used to estimate the number of queries for smoking cessation information each year. To date, there is little information about the rate at which searches for smoking cessation information occur. There is high demand for smoking cessation information and support on the Internet.

The CDC’s Smoking and Tobacco Use Web page is the home page of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. This site offers links to information about the prevention of tobacco use among youth, smoking cessation, and tobacco-related statistics.

The survey consisted of 10 questions that included basic demographic information (age, gender), reasons for searching for cessation information, current smoking status, readiness to quit, quitting history (number of past quit attempts, length of quit, quit methods used), information desired, and ratings of perceived helpfulness of various online cessation features (eg, bulletin board, assistance in setting a quit date).

You’ll find helpful tips, new smoking cessation methods new smoking cessation methods, and the latest information that will help you quit smoking for good. The key is making the effort to quit and rewarding yourself for taking those difficult steps. By providing resources and useful information about smoking cessation, our site aims to help people permanently beat their nicotine addiction.

One way to assist smokers who want to quit is through a telephone quitline which is easily available to all. Professionally run quitlines may help less dependent smokers, but those people who are more heavily dependent on nicotine should seek local smoking cessation services, where they exist, or assistance from a knowledgeable health professional, where they do not.

Smoking cessation services, which offer group or individual therapy can help people who want to quit. Several studies have found that smoking cessation advice is not always given in primary care in patients aged 65 and older, despite the significant health benefits which can ensue in the older population. A separate thorough review of the evidence for each of several methods and aids for stopping smoking is available via the Cochrane Library website, Cochrane Library.

A range of population level strategies such as advertising campaigns, smoking restriction policies, and tobacco taxes have been used to promote smoking cessation. Of these, raising the cost of smoking is the one that has the strongest evidence (West, 2006).

Upon smoking cessation, the body begins to rid itself of naturally foreign substances introduced to the body through smoking. These include substances in the blood such as nicotine and carbon monoxide, and also accumulated particulate matter and tar from the lungs. Some smoking cessation programs employ a combination of coaching, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and pharmacological counseling.

Few smokers are successful with their very first attempt.

Visit the National Women’s Health Information Center Web site for “A Breath of Fresh Air! Independence from Smoking,” a special section to help women stop smoking. Information to help people quit smoking is also available through community hospitals, the yellow pages (under “drug abuse and addiction”), public libraries, health maintenance organizations, health fairs, bookstores, and community quitlines.

State and local health agencies often have information about community programs to help people quit smoking.

The American Lung Association (ALA), an organization dedicated to fighting smoking-related diseases, provides information about local quit smoking programs as well as its Freedom From Smoking® clinics for individuals and organizations.

The American Heart Association (AHA) has information on local and community-related intervention programs in schools, workplaces, and health care sites. It also offers brochures on quitting smoking and the relationship between smoking and heart disease.

The Office of the Surgeon General’s Web site has press releases, reports, and other information on tobacco use and quitting smoking.

NCI and several other agencies within NIH provide information on the harmful effects of smoking and offer tips for quitting. A number of agencies and organizations provide information and materials about where to find help to quit smoking.

Several federal agencies and national organizations provide information about how to quit smoking.

The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Smoking Quitline offers a wide range of services, including individualized counseling, printed information, referrals to other sources, and recorded messages.

The Tobacco Control Research Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a component of the National Institutes of Health, established the Smokefree.gov Web site in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society to help people quit smoking.

The Office on Smoking and Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention distributes pamphlets, posters, scientific reports, and public service announcements about smoking, and maintains a bibliographic database of smoking- and health-related materials.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) issues quit smoking guidelines and other materials for physicians, health care professionals, and the general public. Within several months of quitting, people can expect significant improvements in lung function. Quitting smoking reduces the risk of cancer and other diseases, such as heart disease and lung disease, caused by smoking. People who quit smoking, regardless of their age, are less likely than those who continue to smoke to die from smoking-related illness.

People who smoke after quitting should try again to quit. Most people find that they need to persist in their attempts to quit smoking before they quit for good. It may take four or more attempts before smokers are able to quit for good. People who stop smoking for 3 months or longer have an excellent chance of remaining cigarette free for the rest of their lives.

People commonly quit smoking and then find themselves smoking again, especially in the first few weeks or months after quitting. Feeling sad or anxious: People who quit smoking are likely to feel depressed, anxious, irritable, and restless, and may have difficulty sleeping or concentrating. Gaining weight: Increased appetite is a common withdrawal symptom after quitting smoking, and studies show that people who quit smoking increase their food intake.

Nicotine replacement products deliver small, measured doses of nicotine into the body, which helps to relieve the cravings and withdrawal symptoms often felt by people trying to quit smoking. Varenicline, a prescription medicine marketed as Chantix, was approved by the FDA in 2006 to help cigarette smokers stop smoking. This drug may help those who wish to quit by easing their withdrawal symptoms and by blocking the effects of nicotine from cigarettes if they resume smoking.

Be encouraging and express your faith that the smoker can quit for good. Suggest a specific action, such as calling a smoking quitline, for help in quitting smoking. The Web site (http://www.smokefree.gov) provides an online guide, Clearing the Air: Quit Smoking Today, for smokers interested in quitting.

Acknowledge that the smoker may get something out of smoking and may find it difficult to quit. Some people claim that alternative approaches such as hypnosis, acupuncture, acupressure, laser therapy, or electrostimulation may help reduce the symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawal. Clinical studies have not shown that these alternative approaches help people quit smoking.

Nicotine Anonymous provides support to people seeking freedom from nicotine addiction, including those using cessation programs and nicotine withdrawal aids. The Office of the Surgeon General has information about techniques being used to treat tobacco use and dependence. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) offers drug abuse and addiction information in English and Spanish.