Time to be a quitter

Tinker Atkins knows it would take only one cigarette and she'd be hooked.

The 59-year-old Charleston, Mo., woman doesn't plan to touch another cigarette in her life -- and she encourages other smokers to put out their cigarettes today for the Great American Smokeout.

Every third Thursday in November, the American Cancer Society asks smokers across the country to give up smoking for at least the day and, they hope, forever.

Atkins started smoking when she was 13. She quit once at the age of 18, but picked the habit up again years later. About eight years ago, she put out her last cigarette for good.

"I feel so much better since I quit," Atkins said. "I was having such bad headaches from smoking that I needed to get shots for the headaches."

She also suffered from bronchitis at least six times during the winter months while she was smoking. Since she's quit, she hasn't had bronchitis in four years.

While it may be uncomfortable to quit smoking, it can be done, said Debbie Leoni, wellness manager at Southeast Missouri Hospital's HealthPoint Plaza. Leoni suggests replacing cigarettes with an alternative habit like chewing gum.

"You can't take away this behavior you've done 20 times a day without replacing it with another behavior," she said. "You need to have something else ... I have a friend who quit smoking and now plays with silly putty instead."

Terry Baker, the tobacco prevention project manager at Saint Francis Medical Center, said if someone is interested in quitting, they need to come up with a plan.

"They need to say, 'I'm going to quit smoking on this day,' and have a support system in place," Baker said. "It takes a smoker an average of four to seven times for them to be successful, so they really need a plan."

Both Baker and Leoni agree the Great American Smokeout is a great opportunity for smokers to quit.

Southeast Missouri Hospital is providing "quit kits" for smokers at different locations throughout Cape Girardeau and Jackson. Leoni said the kits are available at the hospital's fitness centers, the Generations Center and Main Street Pharmacy.

Baker said Saint Francis Medical Center is providing tobacco prevention programs for eight area school districts. The programs provide high school students information to keep younger children from smoking.

Many smokers are not only jeopardizing their own health, but also the health of their family, friends and co-workers, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services.

"There is no longer any scientific doubt that secondhand smoke causes a great deal of disease and death," said Julie Eckstein, director of the state health department. "Smokers must realize their smoke affects the health and well-being of many other people."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated in 2005 that secondhand smoke caused about 3,000 nonsmokers to die from lung cancer and 46,000 nonsmokers to die from heart disease in the United States.

"The research is clear -- secondhand smoke is a major health threat that causes disease, disability and premature death in nonsmoking adults and children," Eckstein said.

jfreeze@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 246