cessation

cessation

Vox populi The stopping of a thing. See Smoking cessation.

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Patient discussion about cessation.

Q. Does the risk for lung cancer remain the same after I stop smoking? I'm 55 years old woman and have been smoking since age 20 one pack a day. Fortunately, after numerous failures I succeeded to stop smoking 5 years ago. I'm happy and feel much better now, but I'm still worried about the possibility of lung cancer- I know that smoking cause lung cancer, but after I've stopped smoking, am I still at risk to have cancer?

A. The answer is a little complicated: as former smoker, the risk for lung cancer does decrease with time. However, it may never return to the risk of someone similiar to you who never smoke to develop lung cancer.

Q. I may be healthier now, but miserable… I’ve not been smoking for a whole month (my longest period in the last decade), and I do feel a bit better physically, but it seems that I lost the joy of life – I don’t go out with my friends any more (because they’re all smokers), I envy other smokers, and generally I feel nervous and dull. Will it be like that forever or is there hope?

A. Well, try to think about what are you missing? The foul smell? The yellow teeth? The feeling of suffocating next morning? Whenever you feel longing to cigarettes, try to think again why you stopped smoking- and it’d help you to keep with it.