Facts to use as motivation to quit smoking and chewing? -
My boyfriend smokes, and uses those chew pouches to control his cravings when he can-t smoke. I-m going to buy him the patch, but I want to show him solid facts to kind of put fear in him and make him aware of how it is affecting him everywhere, not just his lungs.
Links would be awesome! Thank you guys for your help.
I-m a dental student, and we counsel every patient that walks in about tobacco (whether or not they smoke). There is so, so much out there that shows research about how awful it is, and I-ll try to find some. However, I think the best and more effective way is by finding some risky-looking things in the mouth. Almost 100% of smokers and chewers will develop some sort of oral lesion. A lot of them are benign, but some will become cancerous. I know that -scare tactics- aren-t a fair way to educate someone, but there-s something to be said for getting a point home when you can see evidence in your own body.
Here-s what to do: take a flashlight and shine it into his mouth (or have him look himself.) Have him stick his tongue out and look under it, and on either side (way in the back). Look at the skin on the inside of his cheeks, the roof of his mouth, and on the inner side of upper and lower lips. Look for any white spots, ulcers, or red spots. Here-s an idea of what to look for:
http://www.nidcr.nih.gov/NR/rdonlyres/69…
With people who chew, almost everyone will develop a corrugated white lesion called hyperkeratosis. Here-s an idea:
http://www.quittobacco.com/facts/mthcncr…
If you see ANYTHING abnormal, make sure he gets to his dentist to get it looked at.
Tell him that he is 5 times more likely to get periodontitis (severe gum disease), which has irreversible bone loss and can cause his teeth to get loose. Also, the massive amounts of bacteria associated with gum disease has been linked to heart disease and stroke as well.
If he ever has surgery, it will be difficult for him to heal. In fact, dentists will NOT place implants and most hospitals will reject regular surgery if the patient smokes. That means if he needs something done, he will simply be sent him. Period. They don-t mess around with it since smokers have such poor healing rates and sometimes even get worse after surgery because tobacco constricts blood vessels.
And his cancer risk is MUCH higher, of course.
Here are some good sites:
http://www.quittobacco.com/facts/effects…
http://www.quitsmoking.com/quitinfo.htm
http://www.tobaccofacts.org/tob_truth/in…
http://quitsmoking.about.com/
Here-s a link to a picture of a smoker-s black lungs next to a a cancerous lung - not pretty.
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl…
Hope your boyfriend manages to quit:-)
Find pictures of people with gum cancer after chewing. It-s freakin discusting. Then once he grosses out on those, tell him his lungs look worse than that. Once he chews the gum or wears the patch, and he intakes nicotine he-ll be in so much pain he won-t want to do it again.
He should use some natural products, which can help quit smoking, a product which can relieve symptoms.