Great American Smoke-out Is The Day To Quit

November 11, 2009
By Shari Lopatin
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TriWest Healthcare Alliance

The Great American Smoke-out is Nov. 19 and it’s a great time to kick the habit.

Quitting smoking can prevent the nation’s fourth leading cause of death: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

“My dad smoked his entire life and I think that smoking is what, in fact, killed him eventually. But I wasn’t thinking about that. I just thought it was a cool thing to do and I wanted to smoke too,” said Navy Surgeon General Vice Adm. Adam M. Robinson in a video interview posted on TRICARE’s Tobacco Free Web site. “The reason I stopped smoking was because of my patients . . . Kicking an addiction is probably among the strongest things that we will ever do.”

The American Lung Association says smoking is the main cause of COPD, which is a group of lung diseases that include emphysema and chronic bronchitis. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, COPD affects more than 12 million Americans.

COPD makes breathing hard by partly blocking airways. It can cause colds that last weeks and frequent lung infections, according to COPD-International.

While no cure exists for COPD, if you quit smoking, you’ll see your symptoms start decreasing after one to nine months, says the American Lung Association. This means less coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath. Stopping smoking also will help slow the progression of COPD.

Some other suggestions from COPD-International to improve your quality of life with COPD include healthy eating habits, a personal exercise program and following your medication routine all the time.

You also can practice some at-home breathing exercises to help train your body to breathe better. Find them from COPD- International at http://www.copd-international.com/Library/Breath ing_Exercises.htm.

For additional information, visit:

* TRICARE Tobacco FREE: http://www.tricare.mil/tobaccofree/default.aspx

* TriWest Healthcare Alliance: http://www.triwest.com/copd

* American Cancer Society: http://www.americancancer-society.org
* http://www.smokefree.gov
* http://www.ucanquit2.org