Smoking cessation

Abstract

Smoking has a profound adverse effect on health. Strong evidence links smoking to cancer, respiratory disorders and heart disease. As many as 90% of lung cancers, 90% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 25% of deaths from heart disease are related to smoking. One in three long-term smokers develop a chronic cough. Stopping smoking may therefore be the single most important intervention in the prevention of these diseases. The powerful addictive nature of nicotine, however, makes this intervention an extremely difficult one. It is the nicotine in cigarette smoke that quickly initiates and maintains dependence on smoking, thereby exposing smokers
to the more than 4000 potentially hazardous substances in tobacco smoke.