Western Reserve Hospital provides “how to quit” smoking/ tobacco cessation resources for patients who may need assistance. We offer one-on-one appointments with a licensed pharmacist that can assist patients, on an outpatient basis, with their “quit” journey. Pharmacists provide education, counseling, and are able to prescribe nicotine replacement treatments to help you quit for good. For questions and more information, please call our dedicated line at (330) 971-7694.

Why should you quit Smoking?

The choice to quit is a private one. Often a person attempts to quit before being ready. It is normal to make a number of quit attempts. Breaking the need for nicotine takes time. Each quit attempt can bring you one step closer to living a smoke-free life. Quitting smoking is the single most important action you can take to improve your health.

Death is not the only danger of smoking. Healthcare costs, loss of productivity and second-hand smoke add to the harmful effects of smoking. Total costs related to smoking top $90 billion a year.

Second-Hand Smoke

Second-hand smoke, also known as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), is a severe health threat. Each year, ETS causes 60,000 deaths from heart disease and 3,000 deaths from lung cancer. Children and pregnant women are at a higher risk from the harmful effects of ETS.

ETS is a severe health threat. Frequent contact with ETS can cause asthma, chronic bronchitis and pneumonia. If you are not ready to quit but have loved ones who could be affected by ETS, work together to come up with some way to limit time exposed to ETS.

Lung Cancer

Lung Cancer often takes many years to develop. Cigarette smoking damages cells. This cell damage can lead to tumors that often start in the lungs. Once lung cancer occurs, the cancer cells can break away from the lungs and spread to other parts of the body.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

(COPD) refers to a group of lung conditions that are accompanied by a blockage of air flow out of the lungs. It includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis. COPD is different from asthma, but it can be hard to tell them apart. COPD makes it difficult to breathe and may get slowly worse as the damage to the lungs progresses.

Stroke

Stroke can be caused either by a clot blocking the flow of the blood to the brain or by a blood vessel rupturing and preventing blood flow to the brain. Cigarette smoke damages the walls of the blood vessel. This makes it easier for clots to form and increases the risk for a stroke.

Coronary Heart Disease

(CHD) is caused when the coronary arteries become narrow or clogged and cannot supply enough blood to the heart. This causes the heart to work harder. Cigarette smoke narrows the blood vessels and also reduces their ability to carry oxygen throughout the body, increasing your risk for CHD.

Women who smoke and take birth control pills are 13.5 times more likely to have a heart attack than women who do not smoke and take birth control pills.

Accumulated evidence suggests that cervical cancer can be caused by smoking.

Helpful Tips on Quitting

  • Ask a friend to quit with you; help support each other.
  • Keep yourself busy by reading or taking a walk.
  • Start exercising.
  • Remove all ashtrays, lighters and extra cigarettes from the home and car.
  • Keep track of when you smoke, how much and your mood.
  • Take it one day at a time.
  • Drink lots of water.
  • Replace cigarettes with toothpicks, cinnamon sticks or coffee stirrers.
  • Join a smoking cessation program.

It’s NEVER too late to quit!

The first step to living smoke-free is to have a plan. No matter how long you have been smoking, you will start to benefit from quitting almost right away!