JACKSON, Wyo. — Why quit tobacco? Smoking, vaping and smokeless tobacco products contain nicotine. Nicotine is not only addictive; it has adverse effects on your lungs, heart, skin and eyes.
Nicotine also damages major systems of the body, such as digestion, respiration and the immune system, all of which can lead to disease. In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S.
There are many health benefits to quitting nicotine. These benefits start within the first 20 minutes of not smoking and they continue to build over time. The National Cancer Institute states that blood pressure will decrease within the first 20 minutes of your last smoke/vape, while circulation and lung functions improve over the next few weeks and months, and the risk of cancer decreases as the years go by.
This means the earlier in your life you quit using tobacco products, the more health benefits you will experience.
Nicotine is highly addictive, and therefore can be hard to quit. If you want to give up tobacco, you do not have to go it alone. Studies show that a combination of counseling and medication is an effective way to find success.
There are two accessible and free tobacco cessation programs available to our community. The Wyoming Quit Tobacco Program (WQTP) assists Wyoming residents through telephone-based cessation coaching and nicotine replacement therapies.
Reports suggest that WQTP enrollees are 1.9 times more likely to quit than Wyoming smokers who made a recent quit attempt without using cessation aids. Go to https://www.quitwyo.org/ to enroll.
In Teton County, St. John’s Health & Wellness Department provides free tobacco cessation counseling and coaching to anyone who is interested in quitting the use of tobacco.
Appointments meet via Zoom, telephone or in-person (with masks). Please contact Natalie Stewart RN at NStewart@tetonhospital.org or reach the Wellness Department directly at (307) 739-7399.
For more information about tobacco, alcohol and drug counseling in Teton County, visit the Curran-Seeley Foundation website.
