Smoking is also the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, accounting for nearly 1 in 5 deaths.
Cigarettes contain chemicals that can make this addiction especially insidious. When they enter the lungs, they can cause harmful effects such as bronchitis, said Jonathan Bricker, a professor in the public health sciences division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Fortunately, lung cancer can be prevented by quitting smoking and learning to “stay quit,” said Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos, director of the Johns Hopkins Medicine Smoking Treatment Clinic in Baltimore, Maryland.
Here are six things you can do to help you quit smoking and enjoy a healthier life:
1. Focus on how to “withdraw”
The goal should not be to quit smoking; rather, it should be about how to “stay low,” Galiatsatos said. He said he has had patients who say they have stopped smoking many times but have not been able to stop for good.
He recommends that people break their bigger goal of quitting smoking into smaller goals.
For example, learn your different triggers that can make you want to smoke. This way, you can be aware and find solutions to these actions.
2. Make it a learning experience every time you leave
Most smokers quit smoking eight to twelve times, due to cigarette addiction, before successfully quitting forever, Bricker said.
Because relapse is so common, Bricker tells his patients to find a lesson they can learn from each experience.
“People will say things like,‘ I learned how powerful these desires are, or I learned how seeing my friend smoking was a big trigger for me, or I learned that stress in my life was a big one. detonating, “Bricker said.
He said patients should address smoking cessation from the point of view that the more they learn from their relapses, the more likely they will be to quit permanently.
3. Use phone lines and applications for support
Support groups for people who want to quit are declining, so Bricker recommended calling a quit helpline for outside help.
The CDC funds a smoking cessation hotline, 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669), which is free for U.S. residents in all states except the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Your call automatically goes to the destination line of your state or territory.
Callers are connected with coaches who help smokers create a smoking cessation plan and give them advice when faced with abstinence and cravings.
Currently, state hotlines only reach 1% of smokers, which the CDC largely attributes to a lack of funding to promote the service.
Bricker’s team at Fred Hutch helped create the iCanQuit app, which was supported by a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The app focuses on acceptance and commitment therapy, which encourages people to accept their emotions and thoughts instead of pushing them away. The tool also provides resources to quit smoking and manage cravings when they arise, Bricker said.
RELATED: Apps That Help You Recognize Your Smoking Triggers Work Better, Study Shows
4. Talk to your doctor
People who want to quit smoking can talk to their healthcare provider to come up with a treatment plan full of multiple strategies, Galiatsatos said.
Doctors may prescribe medications to curb cigarette cravings and make them more manageable, he said. It’s a short-term solution to help you train your brain so you don’t feel like smoking so hard, Bricker added.
The medications provided by doctors will depend on your specific situation, Bricker said. Prescriptions are usually minimal at first and then intensify depending on the severity of the addiction.
5. Support people addicted to smoking
Galiatsatos said he has never met a patient who does not yet know that smoking is bad, so he recommends avoiding this argument when appealing to a loved one who smokes.
“If you really take yourself seriously when it comes to helping your loved one quit smoking, you should focus on being pro-smoker and anti-smoking,” he said.
When you try to help someone who smokes, make it clear that you are dealing with the situation without stigma or judgment, Galiatsatos said.
Once confidence is established, we recommend that friends and family volunteer to help smokers find resources on how to quit smoking.
Medical providers should also support their smoking patients, Galiatsatos said.
If patients feel judged by their doctors for smoking, they may just lie about it. And that doesn’t help anyone, he said.
Even when patients do not feel motivated to quit smoking that day, it is important to outline the different treatment options so that they have the resources later.
6. Address the root cause of the problem
Many times, when people smoke, it is to deal with some underlying problem in their lives, such as stress or anxiety, Galiatsatos said. When faced with these emotions while quitting, it is instinctive for them to return to cigarettes.
“If you’ve always been confident that cigarettes are that coping mechanism and you have no substitute, that’s all we’ll see,” he said.
To combat this challenge, Galiatsatos recommended that people who try to quit should seek behavioral counseling. They will be able to better identify why they smoked and work to find healthier ways to process these emotions.
Why is smoking so addictive anyway?
Cigarettes are full of chemicals like nicotine, which are chemically enhanced to drive this addiction, Galiatsatos said.
Chemically enhanced nicotine closely resembles the common neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which helps control muscle movement and other brain functions.
RELATED: Smokers may be at higher risk for depression, according to the study. When nicotine adapts to acetylcholine receptors, the body releases dopamine, the brain’s chemical substance to “feel good.” When dopamine wears off, people start craving another cigarette.
“I always tell people that this is the most insidious addictive molecule man knows so that you don’t just overdose,” said Galiatsatos, who is also a volunteer medical spokesman for the American Lung Association.
He acknowledges the smoker’s brain over the years, and “when someone realizes he’s stealing their health, it’s incredibly hard to break that addiction.”
Despite the daunting effort required, never forget: it is possible to overcome this addiction and enjoy better health.