Helping Shreveport stop smoking

In Louisiana, 20.5 percent of the population aged over 18 are currently cigarette smokers. That means there are over 675,000 individuals smoking cigarettes on a daily basis across the state. Despite state-wide efforts to get residents to stop, this figure has remained high. Louisiana is in the top five states in the country when it comes to the rate of smokers per capita. And yet, the benefits of smoking cessation are so considerable that it is surprising that more people are not taking advantage of the many schemes currently in place across Louisiana. Here are just some of the benefits of giving up smoking, and details of how local residents can access support:

The Benefits of Kicking the Habit It’s amazing how fast your body will begin to experience the benefit of being smoke-free. Just two hours after your last cigarette, your heart rate and blood pressure will begin to return to normal levels, and your circulation will also immediately begin to improve. Unfortunately, it is also at this twohour point that your cravings will begin. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms begin two hours after your last cigarette and can last for up to several weeks. This is why many people begin smoking again before they have experienced the physical health benefits of quitting. However, if you can power through this two-hour point, you will only see your overall health and well-being improve as you walk the path to a smokefree life. Twelve hours after your last cigarette, your blood oxygen levels will return to normal, as will the levels of carbon monoxide present in your blood. After 72 hours, your entire body will test 100 percent nicotine-free, and over 90 percent of nicotine metabolites present in your body for the duration of your life as a smoker will have exited your body via your urine. By the time you have been smoke-free for 12 months, your risk of suffering from a heart attack, stroke or experiencing coronary heart disease will have decreased to less than half of that of a smoker; within five years your figure will be the same as that of a non-smoker (meaning that, physiologically from the point of view of your heart health, it will be like you never smoked at all).

Searching for Local Support There are many different ways that you can try to quit smoking. With determination, willpower alone is often enough for some people. Alternatively, you could visit your local drug store and experiment with the range of cessation tools available, such as nicotine patches, inhalers and gum. There are also a wide range of therapists and health-care professionals within the local area who specialize in smoking cessation and who would be happy to give you the support you need.

If you are a Louisiana resident who began their smoking habit before Sept. 1, 1988, then, as a result of the judgment in the 2011 Scott v. American Tobacco Company, you are eligible for free smoking cessation treatment and support. You can receive cessation medications, individual / group cessation counseling, telephone quit-line support and/or intensive cessation support services at no cost to you, making the incentive to live a smoke-free life even larger. It won’t cost you a thing except some willpower! The journey to a happy, smoke-free life is often a long and difficult one. But if you are determined to kick this bad habit for good, for the sake of both your long-term and your short-term health, then there is plenty of support and encouragement available to you. You’ll feel so healthy when you’re finally living a smoke-free life that you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it sooner!

– Helen Hall