Different people start smoking because of several reasons. Some of these reasons are the availability of the substance, peer pressure, to release stress, and the influence of the celebrities and popular film stars who are used by the companies to market the products (Iloveindia.com, 2009, par.2).
Parents who smoke contribute to the early smoking onset amongst their children. Children who are exposed to parents who smoke are at risk of smoking while in their early adolescence ages. Moreover, children who have one or both of their parents smoking will want to smoke because of the availability of the cigarettes and their curiosity about smoking (Elsevier, 2009, par.2).
According to research carried out by Gulliver, Kamholz & Helstrom (2009, p.208), about 80% of the individuals with alcoholism addiction are also cigarette smokers. Cigarette contains nicotine hence smokers take in a lot of nicotine. In addition, those who smoke and drink alcohol are at a greater risk of contracting diseases compared to nonsmokers who drink alcohol. 60% to 70% of the outpatient and inpatient cases of alcoholism treatment are known to be smokers and 40% to 50% of these patients are chronic smokers (Gulliver, Kamholz& Helstrom, 2009, p.208).
In Australia, each year 18,000 people die prematurely as a result of smoking. Tobacco smoking leads to more deaths when compared to drugs, murder, drinks, poisoning, air crashes, fires, lighting, and road crashes. There are approximately 1,000 males who smoke in Australia; 15 of them are killed on the road, one of them will be murdered and 250 of them will die prematurely. According to Australian statistics, there are 27% and 30% of women and men smoke regularly.
In total there are about 5.3 million smokers in Australia and they smoke approximately 18 cigarettes in a day and 34,821 million cigarettes annually (Statistics on Smoking, 2007, par.4). Tobacco smoking is one of the contributing factors to some of the diseases that cause deaths in Australia. These diseases are lung cancer, ischaemic heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. In Australia, smoking is attributed to 20% of the deaths caused by cancer and 80% of the deaths caused by lung cancer (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006, par.5).
The number of young people engaging in smoking is increasing weekly especially in girls being reported higher than the boys. This gender difference is most distinct in the United Kingdom countries that are known to have the highest smoking record which is estimated to be about 1 to 11% (Amos & Bostock, 2006, par.2). In the United States, tobacco smoking leads to approximately 430,000 people dying every year which is a higher number compared to 18,000 in Australia. Among the current smokers in the United States, 70% of them want to stop smoking and 7 smokers in 10 make visits to the health care providers annually (Piper, Fox, & Fiore, 2009, par.1). Tobacco smoking especially in pregnant mothers leads to the deaths of approximately 1000 newborns every year. (U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, 2009, par.1).
Diseases like cardiovascular and cancer which are caused by smoking can be reduced by avoiding cigarette smoking. A comprehensive approach that includes tobacco evaluation to give pharmaceutical, behavioral and medical support, as well as quality treatment choices for people who smoke, may lead to lasting smoking cessation (Steele, 2008, par.1). The approach used for smoking cessation counseling is different amongst the patients because it depends on the patient’s willingness to stop smoking.
For the smokers who are discordant, the health care providers ought to show great support and assist them in setting a termination date. For those who are not willing to stop smoking, the health care providers should sensitize and update them on the effects of smoking and the importance of smoking cessation (Cornuz & Willi, 2008, par.1).
Health care providers have a chance to help patients who are willing to start smoking cessation. Cessation intervention by the physician should include the following steps; first by offering practical counseling, second by assisting the patient to develop a cessation plan, thirdly by assisting the patient to identify support that is different from treatment, and fourthly by giving them intra-treatment communal support.
The fifth way of helping them is by recommending them to use accepted pharmacotherapy and finally giving them complementary materials. In simplicity, the health care provider should assist the patient in undertaking the following; plan the date for termination, inform friends, colleagues, and family members about the patient’s idea of quitting, and request them to offer support to the patient. The physician should also predict the challenges that might be encountered by the patient on the intended cessation effort especially during the first week. The health care provider can go the extra mile and eliminate products like tobacco from the patient’s surroundings and finally give information on smoking cessation (Cornuz & Willi, 2008, par.9).
Several medications have been tested and approved for smoking cessation. Firstly, there is the use of nicotine gum which after six months of use, the analysis indicated that patients who opted to use nicotine gum were more successful compared to those who used placebo gum. This was represented by 27 percent against 18 percent respectively. The greater success rates of nicotine gum in clinics may be associated with comprehensively counseling, better-trained personnel, motivated participants, and better response to treatment by the patient (Okuyemi, Nollen & Ahluwalia, 2006, par.10).
Secondly, there is the use of nicotine patches also known as transdermal. A clinical trial proved that nicotine patches had a six-month achievement of 8 to 21 percent when compared to the use of placebo which had an achievement rate of 4 to 14 percent after six months of use. Analysis for one year showed that patch had an achievement rate of 10 to 16 percent while placebo had 6 to 16 percent (Okuyemi, Nollen & Ahluwalia, 2006, par.11).
Thirdly, there is the use of a nicotine inhaler which resulted in a success rate of 23 percent compared to a placebo which resulted in 11 percent. The distinctiveness of a nicotine inhaler is that it imitates the hand-to-mouth movement while one is smoking. The fourth medication used is the nicotine lozenge in which after clinical trials were carried out, nicotine lozenge resulted in six weekly achievement rates of 46 percent when compared to the 30 percent success rate for placebo. Nicotine lozenge has similarities to nicotine gum because both are administered through the mouth but it gives approximately 25 percent more nicotine compared to nicotine gum (Okuyemi, Nollen & Ahluwalia, 2006, par.12).
The next approved medication of smoking cessation is the use of bupropion SR which through controlled trials it has shown that it is more effective in hospital employees and medical practice situations. Its success rate ranges from 21 to 30 percent compared to that of placebo which ranges from 10 to 19 percent after six months of use. This medication is challenging for patients who have a history of cases of anorexia, seizures, and head trauma and for those who use inhibitors like monoamine oxidase. (Okuyemi, Nollen & Ahluwalia, 2006, par.13).
In the year 1996, a new drug was permitted called varenicline which is used in smoking cessation. This drug is advantageous because it minimizes the nicotine thirst and leads to withdrawal. It was first used in a randomized trial for a period of twelve weeks in 1025 smokers whose age ranged from 18 to 75 years and were smoking more than ten cigarettes in a day. Compared to bupropion, varenicline was more effective since for 9 to 12 weeks constant use led to 44 percent success rates compared to 30 percent for bupropion and 18 percent for placebo. Another analysis for 9 to 52 weeks of constant abstinence also indicated higher values compared to bupropion and placebo. The representation was 23% against 15% and 10% respectively (Massachusetts Medical Society, 2006, par.2).
Finally, there is the use of combination pharmacotherapy like mixing patches with gum which increases the success rate by more than 50 percent compared to the nicotine patch. Research has also shown that combining inhalers with the patch is more successful when compared to the use of a single therapy (Okuyemi, Nollen & Ahluwalia, 2006, par.14).
Successful smoking cessation must involve behavioral and pharmacotherapy support. In behavioral support, the patient should be provided with information on smoking cessation during counseling and by this, the patient will be in a better position to quit smoking. In pharmacotherapy, the nicotine compound in the cigarette should be substituted with other products like gum, patch, lozenge, inhaler, and bupropion SR (Tonnesen, 2009, par.3). The physicians have a great opportunity to help those patients who are willing to quit smoking. Therefore, they should assist such patients to reduce the mortality rate that occurs due to cigarette smoking.
Reference list
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Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2006). Tobacco Smoking in Australia: A Snapshot, 2004-05.
Elsevier.B. (2009).Do as I say: Parent smoking, antismoking socialization, and smoking onset among. Science Direct, 22, 107-114. Web.
Cornuz, J. & Willi, C (2008). Nonpharmacological smoking cessation interventions in clinical practice. The European Respiratory Society, 17,187-191.
Gulliver, B., Kamholz, W. & Helstrom, W. (2009). Smoking Cessation and Alcohol Abstinence: What Do the Data Tell Us? .
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The Non Smokers’ Movement of Australia, (2007). Statistics on Smoking. Web.
U.S. Preventive Service Task Force, (2009). Counseling and Interventions to Prevent Tobacco Use and Tobacco-Caused Disease in Adults and Pregnant Women. Annals of Internal Medicine, 150, 551-555. Web.