Do You Want to Quit Smoking? We Can Help!

Cigarette smoking is the single leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States. But because of the physical and psychological addiction to nicotine, smokers find it quite difficult to quit.

If you really want to quit smoking, listen in as Dr. Theresa Dam Lohmiller discusses the smoking cessation program at BayCare Health and how it provides the extra support needed to kick the smoking habit for good. Guided by experts, participants learn how to change their behavior and become smoke-free for life. Learn more about BayCare's primary care services.
Do You Want to Quit Smoking? We Can Help!
Featured Speaker:
Theresa Dam Lohmiller, MD
Dr. Theresa Dam Lohmiller is board certified in family medicine. She specializes in preventive medicine, caring for people at all stages of life. Rather than focusing on the treatment of one disease or patient population, Dr. Dam Lohmiller sees patients for everyday ailments, including cold and flu or respiratory infections, and health screenings. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Association.

Learn more about Dr. Dam Lohmiller
Transcription:
Do You Want to Quit Smoking? We Can Help!

Melanie Cole (Host): Cigarette smoking is the single leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, but because of the physical and psychological addiction to nicotine; smokers find it very difficult to quit. My guest today is Dr. Theresa Dam Lohmiller. She’s board-certified in family medicine at BayCare Health. Dr. Dam tell us a little bit about some of the harmful effects of smoking. I mean we have been hearing about it for years, but some people kind of goes in one out the other. Speak about you as a physician what you know are those physiological effects.

Theresa Dam Lohmiller, MD (Guest): So, there’s a few things that we worry about. So, we worry about the lungs. We worry about things like COPD which is kind of difficulty breathing, the lungs just don’t function as well. Your heart disease risk goes up with tobacco smoke. There’s an increased risk of lung cancers. There’s also increased risk of wound infections, not healing correctly if you are a smoker. In men, there is a risk of erectile dysfunction in one in four men that smoke, maybe more. And then there’s also some studies that show that there’s increased stress and poor sleep in people that use tobacco.

Melanie: What about bone health? People don’t often think of that as something where smoking can affect, but it really does leech the minerals from your bones, doesn’t it?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: It does, it does. We do bone scan screenings specifically in people that have had a long history of smoking that meet other requirements.

Melanie: Everybody knows that it’s bad for you and they hear all of these things; why is it so hard for people to quit?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: Because it’s a super addictive product. So, your receptors change over time and you actually feel a need and a desire to smoke, mainly because of the nicotine.

Melanie: So, is it the nicotine, because people hear there is tar in there and then there’s nicotine and the tobacco. So, what is the addictive property of smoking?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: It’s mainly the nicotine. A lot of the medicines that we kind of can use or will use will sometimes help decrease the cravings perhaps or the reaction of your body to those products.

Melanie: Do you feel Dr. Dam that it is harder for people because of that physical addiction to the nicotine or the psychological addiction of the behavior? Some people it’s maybe they go into a garage and that’s where they do this or right when they wake up in the morning, there’s like a routine to it and so there’s a behavior that’s involved, something to do with your fingers. Which do you see is the hardest part to give up?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: I think it’s a little bit of both, but the behavioral is a big part. So, a long time ago, people used to get smoke breaks and I think some people still do and they went through the motions of smoking and socializing and that kind of became part of their day and I think that part is even harder to kind of control. And sometimes the combination of that and the true nicotine addiction makes it harder to quit.

Melanie: So, there’s so many ways now. People see meditation, acupuncture, medications, cognitive therapy, group sessions, there’s so many ways now to try and quit smoking. Tell us about some of the ways that you are involved in.

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: So, what I usually give people is there’s a number, 1-800-QUITNOW which is kind of a basic place to start. I work for BayCare and we actually have smoking cessation classes and people can sign up for them. They are free. It’s two hours. They can get free patches, lozenges or gum and then also talk about how nicotine and tobacco works, coming up with a quit plan, things to do instead when you are craving or going through kind of possible withdrawal, symptoms to expect and kind of how to approach quitting once someone is either thinking about it or ready. Also, sometimes with patients in my office, we offer options for medicines that can either work on the actual addiction to nicotine or kind of the more psychological side of it as well.

Melanie: Speak about those, because people obviously, they see those ads in the media for various medications. What are those medications intended to do and do they help you with that behavioral portion or do they just reduce your desire for the nicotine?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: So, there’s two specific medicines. One is bupropion. It blocks – it usually is used for depression, but they found in studies that people desired smoking less. It depends on the person. If they try that medicine, sometimes it’s effective, sometimes it’s not. Part of it is kind of trying things and committing to something and they usually know within the first month or two if that’s going to be effective or if the timing is correct. There’s another medicine called varenicline to actually kind of block the actual nicotine receptors so when people smoke, it just doesn’t have the same effect and over time, they just don’t desire it as much. And that’s actually proven – a lot of people have had good success with it, but sometimes there are possible side effects and it’s kind of trial and error with the specific person to see which way would take best for them.

Melanie: And you do mention side effects. Is it dangerous if people are taking these medications or using a patch and they continue to smoke, because they figure okay well now I’m getting a reduction? What are some of the harmful effects of doing both when you are trying to quit?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: I think sometimes I tell people that it’s kind of counterproductive. There is some window with both of the medicines and sometimes with the patches where they kind of suggest when you should stop smoking. And usually if you get to that point and you are still smoking; the medicine is not proving to be effective. So, a lot of it is mindsets. So, you have to make sure the patient is in the right place to quit. If they have no desire to quit, regardless of what we use; it may not be effective.

Melanie: What do you want people to tell themselves or to ask themselves when they are thinking about quitting smoking? Questions beside the fact oh it’s bad for me; but what else do you want people to know or ask themselves when they try and make that decision and they keep putting it off. Putting git off and they tell themselves okay, I’m really going to do this, this year. I’m really going to do this at the start of the year. What do you want them to tell themselves?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: I want them to be onboard to try to make it a priority, to question if it’s the right time. I don’t want them to get discouraged if it takes a little bit longer. I want them to think about their family members or other people that may have some side effects from their smoking. I want them to think about their health and how it may not be beneficial if they are still smoking and also see if the people around them will be able to support them. It’s hard if someone wants to quit smoking but their roommate doesn’t. So, it’s kind of a tough situation to be in so I think they have to kind of assess everything and then have a little grace with themselves if it doesn’t go as quickly or as easily as they hope.

Melanie: That’s a good point that you bring up Dr. Dam is that sometimes people do it, they are doing great for a week and fall right back off the wagon. What do you want to tell the listeners about if that happens to them; about getting right back on and working right back at it so that you can quit for good?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: I think that they just have to take time and be gentle with themselves when they are kind of deciding to do such a big change because it is addictive and a lot of it may take more time than they want and may take a little bit more energy and sometimes people do it as a stress reliever, but if they can kind of see the bigger picture; they may be able to quit a little bit easier and it may take a few tries before they actually get to that end point.

Melanie: Then wrap it up for us with your best advice about quitting smoking. We know the harmful effects, but about quitting smoking and what you want people to think about right away when they decide to take that leap and try and quit smoking?

Dr. Dam Lohmiller: Well I think on my end, I would just suggest people be open to options. Look for help. Ask their doctors. Call the QUIT NOW line. Go to the local hospital and ask if they have classes and then do their research and kind of make it an important thing for them to do if that’s kind of what they are setting their goals on.

Melanie: Thank you so much, really important information for the listeners to hear. Thank you again, for joining us. You’re listening to BayCare HealthChat. For more information please visit www.baycare.org, that’s www.baycare.org. This is Melanie Cole. Thanks so much for listening.