Baltimore County, MD Hello Baltimore County, 5 Jan 2018

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From YouTube: You CAN Quit Smoking!

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Learn about free resources from the Health Department to help you quit for good.

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Thanks for watching hello! baltimore county., I m ellen kobler. quitting smoking is quite possibly the single best action.

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You can take to improve your health. it s, not easy,, but you can do it.

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here to offer some real world help is dan young with the baltimore county health department.. Thank you so much for joining us.. It s nice to be here, ellen. so, each new year and throughout the year, smokers vow to quit.

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And many people have tried before, and they're,. You know,.

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Really saying, this time, it's going to work..

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Why is quitting so important,? First of all?.

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Well, for the most part, smoking, quitting smoking,.

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Is a health issue.? It's a financial issue, also. true., but for the most part, it's a health issue.

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so, you know,. We certainly know that. There's plenty of risks in smoking,.

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From heart, disease,, lung disease,, various cancers, and other issues.

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So, we encourage people to,, you know,, think about.

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What are the benefits of quitting??

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How can quitting smoking help me?.

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What is my quality of life going to be if I quit smoking?.

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I was with a group of county employees yesterday who quit two weeks, ago,.

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And every person said, just in the two weeks,.

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They had more energy. really? in two weeks?. They felt better..

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They were breathing better,, coughing less.

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A girl was saying she had prime rib, the other night,.

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And it actually tasted like prime rib.

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she tasted more. wow., I said, well,, you know,, consider your lungs are clearing out.

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Within a few days of quitting smoking., you know, that's why people can breathe better., they may start coughing more,, but that's a good thing., but.

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Getting some nasties out. absolutely., all those tars are coming out, and that starts within a couple. Days.

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But also, the nasal passages,, the mouth, clear, out,.

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So you can smell things: better.

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Food tastes, better.

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and again,. You have more energy., you have less carbon monoxide,. So now you have more oxygen,.

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And you can walk better, more energy.

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So, I mean, the body does a great job of healing itself.

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And that's why I encourage people is look at the positives of quitting smoking.. It's not just about the cancers and the bad things,, but what good things can I expect once I stop using cigarettes.

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And cigars and smokeless tobacco?, and the list is very long on how you re going to improve your quality of life,.

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And you know,, hopefully avoid losing a leg because of poor circulation.

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Losing a leg? people don t think about that. wow.

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Yeah, the components in tobacco smoke,.

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There's so many that damage the arteries in our body.

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That's why we see so many heart, attacks, strokes,.

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Peripheral vascular disease in our legs,, particularly in diabetics,,.

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But those are real concerns.

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and if we can quit smoking,, we can lower the risk of losing a leg.

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We can lower the risk of having to undergo chemo and radiation.

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And surgery associated with various cancers.

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Various cancers. people realize lung cancer., that's very well known,, but there's other cancers, too, right?.

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It doesn t end at lung, cancer., colorectal, and liver cancer are now added, unfortunately, to that list.

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Of cancers caused by smoking,, along with bladder cancer,.

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Stomach cancer,, cervical cancer in women.

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So, and again,: it's not just the cancers.

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It's the heart, disease. diabetes is now linked to smoking.

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Even tuberculosis.

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we're seeing higher rates of tuberculosis in smokers.

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So, yeah, the list just, unfortunately, keeps growing.

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You know, 50 years ago, the surgeon general's report.

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Linked smoking to lung cancer,, and that was it.

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Now, we have about 10 different cancers,, unfortunately, and probably 20 to 30 different health conditions caused by smoking.

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So, again, look at the positive things about quitting smoking,.

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Not only saving money but improving your immediate benefits, --.

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That s neat to hear about the immediate benefits.

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so,, only good things come from quitting smoking.

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absolutely. many people who smoke want to quit.

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Maybe they've tried multiple times., they find it very difficult.

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Why is it so hard to quit?.

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Two things mainly., first and foremost,: this is a very powerful drug addiction.

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Caused by nicotine in the tobacco.

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And when you consider that little cigarette, it's about ten doses of nicotine.

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and if a person smokes 15 cigarettes, a day,.

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That's 150 doses of nicotine going to the brain.

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Within seven to ten seconds, every inhalation.

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so,, it's a quick fix... Nicotine is a quick fix.. When you inhale on that cigarette, 150, 200 times a day,.

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Depending on how many cigarettes you smoke.

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so you've got that drug addiction on the brain, releasing dopamine,, and it says that cigarette is good..

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That cigarette is good in the morning. that cigarette is good with that cup of coffee after meals,.

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Because that dopamine says it's rewarding and pleasurable.

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So,, all throughout the day, we're smoking, and we think pleasure, reward, caused by that dopamine release,.

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Caused by cigarette smoking and the nicotine addiction.

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Then you do that for 10,, 20,, 30,, 40 years.

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You've developed a really powerful, habit.

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so,, it's not just a dirty habit.. It's a drug addiction that we tie in every day many times a day.

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All right. so,, what advice do you have for people who want to quit?.

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First and foremost, make that decision based on why you want to quit. okay?.

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It all starts with motivation, desire to quit. --.

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Whether it's to avoid a health problem, to save money.

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Develop a plan.: what am I going to do instead of smoking? okay?.

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Because again,, it's that habit throughout the day, year, in, year, out, and you're used to that.

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so, coming up with a plan,. What am I going to do instead of smoking.

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Is very powerful, very important.

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also, using nicotine replacement, therapy.

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again,, it's a drug addiction,, just like heroin and cocaine.

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So,, we have to use something to replace that nicotine from the cigarette --.

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That quick fix -- put a slower fix to the brain.

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To keep it kind of happy, so we're not constantly going through withdrawal and having those cravings.. These things will help replace that nicotine and make life more manageable.

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Ellen: so,, you brought some show and tell.. What do we have? a patch and lozenges.

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Dan: so, we have the nicotine patch,, nicotine gum,, nicotine lozenge,, and a medication called chantix that does require--.

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The chantix requires a prescription.

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We provide all four of these in our programs and services.

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Through the county, at no cost.

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baltimore county health, department. absolutely.

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At no cost to county residents., no cost.

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wow. that s significant.

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So, baltimore county,, you know,, invests a lot of resources.

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To help keep residents, students, employees of the county, healthy,.

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So they don't die ten years earlier, like most smokers, do.

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Ellen: wow. so,. Let's says that again.

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Baltimore county health department can provide county residents with resources like these at no charge.

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At no cost., regardless of income or your situation.,.

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That doesn't even enter into it.

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So,, if you're enrolled in one of our classes.

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Or services or programs, free of charge., whatever you want. and we'll give it to you for about six weeks.

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Because it's a powerful addiction, and it doesn't just go away overnight,, so we need about 6 weeks' worth.

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Ellen: all right. that sounds good. so,. Thank you very much for coming and sharing this very important. Information. thank you. thank you. and thank you for watching hello! baltimore county..

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You can find out more about the county's help quitting tobacco.

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On the county website, and be sure to stay connected with county government on all of our social media, platforms.

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