Smoking Cessation Flashcards
How does smoking affect health?
- Increased morbidity (disease in a specific area) and mortality
- Increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease
- Adverse effects on fertility, osteoporosis, peptic ulcers, general diminished health
Describe how tar in cigarettes damage users?
- Suspended particles in cigarrette smoke
- Benzo(a)pyrene (carcinogens)= cancer development
- Stick brown residue that stains fingers, lungs and teeth
- Narrows bronchioles, increased mucuous and decreased cilia activity
Describe how carbon monoxide in cigarettes damage users?
- Has a higher affinity for haemoglobin compared to oxygen
- Leads to production of more red blood cells
- Less oxygen in the body
- Heart works harder to increase blood pressure and heart rate
- Increased cardiovascular disease and reduced exercise tolerance (fatigue)
Describe how nicotine in cigarettes damage users?
- Disrupts normal neurotransmitter activity by causing chemical changes and addiction
- Activates the reward pathway which leads to dependence due to pleasure
- Withdrawal symptoms
What is the cycle of development of dependence?
- Smoking: adds nicotine
- Nicotine travels to the brain quickly
- Stimulates the release of dopamine (pleasure and calmness)
- Decrease in dopamine leads to withdrawal symptoms
- Desire for another cigarettes
What is second hand smoking?
- Smoke that contains many chemicals, irritants and toxins
- Increases the risk of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke
- Can cause:
- Ear infections
- Frequent asthma attacks
- Respiratory symptoms and infections
- Greater risk of sudden infant death syndrome
What is the effect on drug metabolism from smoking and give examples of those affected?
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons affect some liver enzymes such as cytochrome p450 systems
- Enzyme induction leads to faster clearance of medication
- Leads to reduction in serum levels and decreased efficacy
- Drugs: theophylline, ropinorole and anti-psychotics
What are the barriers involved in smoking cessation?
- Nicotine craving and withdrawal symptoms
- Denial of pleasurable effects of smoking
- Lack of motivation
- Fear of failure
- Social and situational triggers
- Worries about weight gain
- Concerns about nicotine replacement therapy
- Habit hard to break
- Not receiving sufficient support
What are the main short term benefits of quitting smoking?
- Blood pressure decreases and oxygen levels return to normal in the blood
- chances of heart attack and stroke decrease
- Sense of smell and taste heighten
- Nerve endings regrow and nicotine by-products are removed from body
- Bronchial tube relaxes and total lung capacity improve
What are the long term benefits of quitting smoking?
- 2-12 weeks: Circulation improves
- 3-9 months: Cough, wheezing and breathing problems improve as lung function increases by 10%
- 5 years: Risk of heart attack falls down to about half compared to a smoker
- 10 years: Risk of lung cancer falls to half of smoker. Risk of heart disease becomes that of a normal person.
What are the smoking withdrawal symptoms that can last from few days to couple of weeks?
- Cravings: 2-3 minutes each time
- Increase appetite
- Dizziness
- Lack of concentration
- Decreased heart rate
- Constipation
- Cough
- Sleep disturbances
- Mood swings
- Anxiety
- Tingiling sensation
- 4 weeks to subside
What are the common withdrawal symptoms?
- Night time awake
- Poor concentration
- Urge to smoke
- Aggression
- Restlessness
- Depression
- Increased appetite
What are the two factors that you need to assess when quitting smoking?
- Motivation
2. Nicotine dependence
How do you identify opportunities in the community?
- New Year resolution
- Beginning of lent
- Government advertising campaigns
- New smoking cessation products
- Newspaper headlines on smoking or smoking illnesses
What are the interventions a pharmacist can do in smoking cessation?
- Brief verbal advice (5 to 10 minutes)
- Offered at least once a year to people who continue to smoke
- Advise smoker to stop even if they’re not ready
What are the most successful interventions a pharmacist can have to stop someone quit smoking?
- Behavioural therapy with medication
2. Brief advice