medicinehatnews.com - Alberta Canadá - 24 de Julio de 2013

Letter Tobacco use

In response to the story “Alberta kids turning to tobacco more” in the Medicine Hat News, I’d like to clarify some information.

Through ongoing education, the rates of youth smoking have fallen in recent years. In 2010 the smoking rate for Alberta youth aged 15 to 19 years was 17 per cent and down to 8.3 percent in 2011. Of the 20 to 24 year olds, 20 per cent smoked in 2010, and 24 per cent smoked in 2011.

These numbers show a large population of youth and young adults choose to smoke and it is our ongoing goal to reduce those numbers even more in the future.

More than 3,000 Albertans die as a result of tobacco use, while many more Albertans suffer from tobacco-related illnesses these are sobering statistics.

Another growing public health concern is the use of flavorings in tobacco products. Almost 64 per cent of Alberta youth who smoke, are using flavored products.

Smoking is not the only concern. People are using spit tobacco at a very young age (as young as nine or 10 years old). Spit tobacco contains 28 known cancer-causing chemicals. Spit tobacco can make your teeth yellow and give you bad breath, and it causes oral and throat cancers, damages the mouth and causes cardiovascular diseases.

We know that quitting is difficult, it can take many attempts before success and many people find quitting more difficult if they try to do it alone.

The benefits of quitting are almost immediate.

· After 20 minutes, your blood pressure drops to normal.

· After 24 hours of quitting, your chance of heart attack decreases.

· After two to three weeks after quitting your circulation improves and your lung function increases by up to 30 per cent.

· In one to nine months you cough less and feel less shortness of breath and fatigue.

· After five years your risk of stroke decreases to that of a lifelong non-smoker.

Alberta Health Services offers various programs and services to help Albertans quit tobacco use including telephone and online support services, group cessation programs and one-on-one counselling. Call AlbertaQuits: 1-866-710-7848 (QUIT) or go to www.AlbertaQuits.ca for online cessation support, resources and education for prevention and reduction of tobacco use.

Dr O Ada Bennett MD, MSc, MFPHMI, FFPH, FHEA,

Medical Officer of Health, South Zone,

Alberta Health Services

Información publicada originalmente en: 
http://medicinehatnews.com/2013/07/commentary/letters-to-the-editor/letter-tobacco-use-405/