Tennessee Quit Week serves to remind people of the negative effects tobacco use can have both on the economy and on one’s health.
Power of Putnam’s John Rust said that risk factors from consistent tobacco use can range from heart disease to stroke, to cancer.
“There’s going to be a number of days that are lost to their lives that they wouldn’t normally lose,” Rust said. “But it also impacts health and it impacts their work and just their availability to whatever work that they do, and also whatever relationships they’re involved in.”
Rust said that according to the Department of Health, 31 people die each day from tobacco use. He said that in addition to that, tobacco use costs the state more than $6 billion in lost productivity and health care costs.
Rust said that the key to quitting tobacco use lies in a structured program. He said that people don’t typically find success in trying to quit cold turkey.
“So in those programs, some of the typical things that they’re going to do is that they’ll work with that person to set a date some time out in the future that’s going to be their ‘quit date,’” Rust said. “And they’re also going to work that person to figure out triggers for use, when they normally smoke, just some of their habits so they can specialize a cessation treatment plan program for the. There’s learning about smoking, learning about how quickly it clears out of your body, learning the behavioral health part of it as well as being introduced to what kinds of medications are there that can help either with a craving or some of the other things associated with it. So there’s a lot of help.”
Rust said that another key to success is outside support. He said that this can come from family, friends, or coworkers.
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