Dr. Janet Hurley

In 2016, UT Health Northeast published “The Health Status of Northeast Texas 2016.” The report compared the Northeast Texas region to the rest of the United States.

If the Northeast Texas were a state, it would rank 49th in heart disease mortality, 47th in chronic lower respiratory disease mortality, 51st in stroke mortality and 45th overall for all-cause mortality.

Given that the whole state of Texas ranks 31st in all-cause mortality, the researchers looked deeper to find differences between our region and the rest of Texas.

It was striking to learn that Northeast Texas has a smoking rate of 23.4 percent, compared to Texas at 14.5 percent. Also, in Northeast Texas, 14 percent of pregnant women smoke, compared to Texas at 4 percent. A clear conclusion is that some Northeast Texans are smoking themselves to death.

It is time to change that trend! Many resources abound to help smokers stop smoking.

The state of Texas sponsors a “Yes Quit” line, which will provide access to quit coaches who provide support and education over the phone or online. Information can be found at www.yesquit.org.

The Northeast Texas Public Health District offers “Commit to Quit” classes which they schedule based on community demand and consist of five one-hour seminars held weekly. Information is available by calling 903-593-7474.

The Christus Trinity Clinic holds quarterly “Beat the Pack” seminars that are free and held in various cities in Northeast Texas. Information is available by calling 903-606-4700 and selecting option 2.

Good medications can help people quit smoking. Medications such as Chantix (varenicline) and Wellbutrin (bupropion) can reduce the brain’s desire for nicotine. These can often be mixed with nicotine patches, gum or lozenges to help people deal with cravings during the weeks after stopping tobacco.

Sometimes physicians prescribe brief courses of anti-anxiety drugs to help in the first couple of weeks after stopping tobacco.

The first step is to believe you can do it! Many have quit before you. People want to help you and medications can handle the withdrawal effects.

Please reach out to your primary care physician for advice. A good next step is to set a quit date and prepare your friends and family so they can provide support and encouragement.

Sometimes family members come to tobacco cessation seminars to get free education, even if they are not smokers.

A friend of mine stopped smoking the day he saw his young children pretending to smoke their macaroni and cheese at the dinner table in an honest desire to “be like dad.”

That day he became a non-smoker. That was the day he had enough. Did he crave cigarettes? Yes! Did he come to me for help and receive a prescription for tobacco cessation medications? Yes. Was the transition from smoking to not smoking uncomfortable? Yes.

Yet if you had the chance to ask my friend, he would say, without a doubt, that it was worth it.

Is it worth it to you? Let us help you! Please call one of the numbers above and get support to quit smoking.