Be a Quitter
North Oaks Smoking Cessation Clinic
Offers Free Guidance and Support
[Hammond, Louisiana] – If you’re a
Louisiana resident who started smoking before
September 1, 1988 and would like help quitting,
North Oaks has a program for you. And it’s
FREE.
The North Oaks Smoking Cessation Clinic
is now open and can provide the guidance and
support eligible smokers need to stay on track
and stop smoking for good. To sign up or learn
more, call the North Oaks Smoking Cessation
Clinic at (985) 230-QUIT [7848] or visit www.
northoaks.org/quitsmoking.
Services are provided by Certified Tobacco
Treatment Specialists and Health Coaches,
and include:
* Five visits with a health care provider
* Nine individual and nine group counseling
sessions
* Medications (such as Chantix, Wellbutrin
and nicotine replacement therapies) to help
curb cravings.
The combination of counseling and
medication gives smokers the best chance to
quit.
“Studies have found that smokers who work
with a counselor, combined with taking these
medications or nicotine replacement products,
are three times more likely to successfully quit
smoking than people who try to quit without any
help,” affirms North Oaks Nurse Practitioner
Jennifer Bouffard. “Using prescription drugs
alone improves chances of success, but folks
who use over-the-counter products are no more
likely to quit than those who try without the
over-the-counter aids.”
The health benefits of quitting smoking
start as soon as 20 minutes after your last puff.
Within that short amount of time, your blood
pressure decreases. Within 8 hours, the amount
of carbon monoxide in your blood drops back
to normal, while oxygen increases to normal
levels. Nerve endings, which can be damaged
by smoking, begin to repair themselves within
48 hours - and your sense of smell and taste will
improve.
“It’s amazing how the body can repair
itself,” states North Oaks Health Coach Kaley
Eleew. “One year after that last puff, the added
risk of heart disease declines to half of that
of a smoker, and 5 years out your risk of lung
cancer drops by one-half. In 10 years, your risk
of all smoking-related cancers decreases by 50
percent, and 15 years after that last cigarette,
your risk of heart disease is equal to that of a
non-smoker.”
The North Oaks Smoking Cessation Clinic
is located within the North Oaks Pulmonology
Clinic at 15813 Paul Vega, MD, Drive, Suite
401A in Hammond.
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