According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 70 percent of smokers want to quit, but smoking is such a tenacious addiction, it's hard to stop. Nicotine, the addictive substance in tobacco, is delivered to the brain within seven to 10 seconds, making the cigarette a very efficient drug-delivery system. Quitting smoking requires planning and developing strategies to cope with withdrawal symptoms and cravings. MIT Medical now offers tobacco treatment services for anyone who wants help with quitting.

• Quit-smoking support at MIT Medical
• Clinical visits
• Health educator consultations
• Quit-smoking classes
• More MIT Medical resources
• Quitting: facts and statistics
• Useful concepts to help you quit
• Benefits of quitting: Immediate and continuing
• Other tobacco treatment resources

Quit-smoking support at MIT Medical

Clinical visits
As a member of the MIT community, even if you are not a Health Plan member, you can make a free appointment to speak with one of our internal medicine clinicians to review your tobacco use and learn more about medications that may improve stop-smoking success rates.

• Governmental clinical guidelines recommend that all smokers trying to quit consider using pharmacotherapy, unless there is a medical reason not to do so.
• Your chances of success will be doubled if you use nicotine-replacement therapy (now available without a prescription) or non-nicotine medications such as bupropion (Zyban) or varenicline (Chantix).
• If you are an MIT Health Plans member and have a primary care clinician (PCP), call your PCP directly to make an appointment.
• If you are an MIT Health Plans member who does not yet have a PCP, call (617) 253-4481 to make an appointment with an available internal medicine clinician. (We'd also encourage you to select a PCP by calling 617-253-6286 or visiting us online at http://web.mit.edu/medical/g-choosing.html.)
• If you are a member of the MIT community who is not an MIT Health Plans member, you can still make a free stop-smoking appointment with an MIT Medical internal medicine clinician as part of your primary care benefit. To make an appointment, call MIT Medical at (617) 253-4481. For non-MIT-Health-Plans members, please note that pharmacy prescriptions are subject to your health plan coverage.

Health educator consultations
Members of the MIT community can make an appointment for a free quit-smoking consultation with a health educator trained in tobacco treatment. During this consultation, we can help you:

• Develop a quit plan,
• Come up with strategies for coping with triggers and cravings, and
• Learn about other wellness resources to help you improve your overall health.

Appointments are available 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. To schedule an appointment, call (617) 258-6965, or send an email to helpmequit@med.mit.edu

Quit-smoking classes
The Center for Health Promotion and Wellness at MIT Medical offers quit-smoking classes. Contact helpmequit@med.mit.edu to find out when the next class begins.

Each session runs for seven weeks, and each class meets for one hour. For more information contact the Center for Health Promotion and Wellness at (617) 253-1316, or visit the Center's web site at http://web.mit.edu/medical/a-center.html.

More quit-smoking resources at MIT Medical

• Self-help materials: Visit the Center for Health Promotion and Wellness at MIT Medical in E23-205 for free fact sheets and pamphlets about quitting smoking.
• Free Quit Kits: The Center for Health Promotion & Wellness at MIT Medical also distributes quit kits to individuals who are preparing to quit. Stop by E23-205, and pick one up!
• Nicotine-replacement therapies (NRTs): Purchase over-the-counter NRTs, such as nicotine gum or the patch, at the MIT Pharmacy to relieve withdrawal symptoms when trying to quit.

Facts & statistics

• Tobacco use is a chronic addictive disease. Approximately half of all tobacco users will die from a tobacco-related illness.
• Seventy-eight percent of Massachusetts smokers say they would like to quit, and 56 percent say they have made an attempt to quit in the past year.
• It takes most smokers as many as eight attempts before they are able to quit for good.
• Although it is possible to quit "cold turkey," more than 95 percent of those who quit on their own will relapse.
• Evidence shows that the probability of successfully quitting is much higher with the use of behavioral counseling and FDA-approved stop-smoking medications, including nicotine patches, gum, and nasal sprays.

Adapted from: Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program, Mass. Department of Public Health

Useful concepts to help you quit

• Quitting is difficult, but once you have made the decision to stop smoking or are committed to quitting, it becomes easier.
• Past difficulties with quitting are not predictive of what will happen with future attempts. Each quit attempt is different.
• There are many programs to help you quit smoking, but there are no magic bullets. You have to work with the method for it to be effective.
• Create a list of reasons for quitting—and review it when you feel the urge to smoke.
• Set a date, and get prepared.
• Quitting is a "one day at a time" process.
• Tapering can be useful for people who are very physically addicted.

Benefits of quitting are immediate and continuing…

20 minutes after you quit…

• Blood pressure drops to normal
• Pulse rate drops to normal
• Body temperature of hands and feet increases to normal

8 hours after you quit…

• Carbon monoxide level in the blood drops to normal
• Oxygen level in the blood increases to normal

24 hours after you quit…

• Chance of heart attack decreases

48 hours after you quit…

• Nerve endings start to re-grow
• Ability to smell and taste is enhanced

2 weeks after you quit…

• Circulation improves
• Walking becomes easier
• Lung function increases up to 30 percent

1 to 9 months you quit…

• Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease

• Cilia re-grow in lungs, increasing their ability to handle mucous, clean the lungs, and reduce infection
• Body's overall energy increases

1 Year after you quit…

• Excess risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker

Adapted from: The American Cancer Society and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Other tobacco treatment resources

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Smoker's Quitline
www.trytostop.org
1-800-Try-To-STOP (1-800-879-8678)

American Cancer Society
www.cancer.org
1-800-ACS-2345

American Lung Association
www.lungusa.org
1-800-lung-usa

Nicotine Anonymous (NicA)
www.nicotine-anonymous.org

MGH Quit Smoking Service
http://www.massgeneral.org/tts/