Start With Day One - Great American Smokeout Challenges Smokers to Give Up Cigarettes for 24 Hours

Giving up smoking is hard. Instead of focusing on the long term, Southeast Georgia Health System encourages smokers to focus on day one. And November 18 is a good day to choose. That’s when the American Cancer Society sponsors the Great American Smokeout® (GASO) and challenge smokers to give up cigarettes for 24 hours.

About 34 million American adults still smoke tobacco products even though smoking remains the single most preventable cause of death and illness globally. According to the American Cancer Society, smoking causes an estimated 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 deaths. Each year, on the third Thursday of November, the Great American Smokeout® challenges individuals to commit to healthy, smoke-free lives by educating them about the many free tools they can use to help them quit smoking.

Despite what some may say, it is never too late to stop smoking. As soon as a person quits smoking, their body begins to recover and within days they will begin to experience health improvements. Health benefits include:

• Two weeks to 3 months after quitting: heart attack risk begins to drop and lung function improves.
• One to 9 months after quitting: coughing and shortness of breath decreases.
• One year after quitting: heart attack risk drops sharply.
• Two to 5 years after quitting: stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker.
• Five years after quitting: the risk of mouth, throat and voice box (larynx) is reduced by half.
• Ten years after quitting: the risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a current smoker, and the risk of kidney, esophagus and bladder cancer decreases.
• Fifteen years after quitting: the risk of coronary heart disease returns to that of a non-smoker.

Individuals who wish to quit smoking can increase their chances of success with a good plan and a support system. The American Cancer Society recommends the following steps for those who hope to stop smoking:

1. Make a plan. Learn about options to curb cravings and have a support system ready to help you through challenging times. If you're trying to help someone else quit, research ways to ensure you're doing it in a supportive way.
2. Remove anything smoking-related. GASO is the perfect day to remove all smoking-related items from your home, car, and office, including cigarettes, vapor pens, and smoking accessories. Instead, stock up on substitutes like gum and crunchy snacks.
3. Reflect on past attempts at quitting. If you've tried to quit before, GASO is an excellent time to reflect on why those attempts didn't work and create a plan for a more successful effort.

If you would like to stop using tobacco products and kick the habit, many programs and products can assist you. Getting help through counseling and medications doubles or even triples your chances of quitting successfully.

For more information and community resources to help people quit smoking, visit the tobacco cessation resource guide.