Some of the people I love most in the world currently smoke tobacco or have smoked for much of their life. So if you are reading this and you currently smoke, I want you to know that it is not my intention to shame you. It is my intention to motivate you to take action so you can be healthier and happier.
Now that we have established that, let’s talk about why you should quit smoking. During residency, I frequently took care of people in the hospital suffering from COPD exacerbations, cancers of all different kinds, heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, and autoimmune disease. Your chance of suffering from one of these unfortunate health conditions is drastically increased by regular tobacco use. Honestly, if it weren’t for tobacco and alcohol, hospital doctors wouldn’t have much to do. Outside of the hospital in my clinic, without exception my sickest patients regularly smoke cigarettes. And it’s not just you that they affect. Cigarette smoking has significant negative consequences for your close family and friends.
If you come to DirectMed DPC and allow me to be your doctor, I promise to regularly and politely bug you about quitting smoking because the vast majority of human illness in this country is caused by inflammation. There are few things more inflammatory and upsetting to your body than inhaling toxic dry smoke into your lungs several times per day. I wouldn’t be doing my job as your doctor if I didn’t talk to you about it. I promise to always do this with respect, but unless you explicitly ask me to knock it off, I am going to keep at it.
I love to talk to people about quitting smoking because I have seen many of my patients successfully quit smoking! I’ve heard first-hand from them how much better they feel, how proud they are, how much better things taste and smell (a very weird but real side-effect of smoking), and how much money they are saving ($7+ per day adds up fast). I want that for all of my patients!
In my experience, most people know they need to quit smoking. It is really more a matter of “when” and “how.” Regarding the “when”: I cannot make someone want to quit. But when you are ready, it is doable! I am here to help by: discussing motivations, setting goals, recommending therapists, prescribing medications (like nicotine patches/gum, wellbutrin, varenicline), and troubleshooting rough patches.
If you are ready to quit smoking, and you want the help of an experienced primary care doctor who can also see to your other health needs, please reach out to us by phone, email, or our website and ask how you can become one of my patients. You’ll have easy access to me by phone/email/text and long appointment times all for a small monthly fee.
Citations:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1107663
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/1107682
