HSHS Holy Family Hospital issued the following announcement on Nov. 15.
HSHS Holy Family Hospital is encouraging everyone to commit or recommit to healthy, smoke-free lives by participating in the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout® event on November 21, 2019.
Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of cancer death in the United States. Smoking causes an estimated 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 deaths, and more than 16 million Americans live with a smoking-related disease. In fact, smoking cigarettes kills more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, HIV, guns and illegal drugs combined. Smoking not only causes cancer. It damages nearly every organ in the body, including the lungs, heart, blood vessels, reproductive organs, mouth, skin, eyes, and bones.
Addiction to nicotine in cigarettes is one of the strongest and most deadly addictions one can have. While cigarette smoking rates have dropped significantly, from 42% in 1965 to 14% in 2017, about 34.3 million American adults smoke cigarettes according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).
Quitting smoking improves health immediately and over the long term – at any age. Stopping smoking is hard, but you can increase your chances of success with help. Getting help through counseling and medications doubles or even triples your chances of quitting successfully.
Resources and support are available through the American Cancer Society at cancer.org/smokeout or by calling 1-800-227-2345. The Illinois Tobacco Quitline is a free resource for tobacco users who want to quit for good. Visit quityes.org or call 1-866-QUIT-YES (1-866-784-8937) for more information about quitting or to chat online with a nurse, respiratory therapist, or certified tobacco-treatment counselor. For additional smoking cessation resources, such as smoke-free apps, smoke-free texting programs and to build your own quit plan visit smokefree.gov.
“Holy Family Hospital wants to help the people in our community to be healthy and happy,” said Kerry Steinmann, director of respiratory care. “During this year’s Great American Smokeout event, we hope everyone will join us – and encourage their friends, family and colleagues to join us – in committing or recommitting to year-around, smoke-free lives.”
Original source can be found here.
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