St. George, UT -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/21/2021 --There is so much known about the dangers of cigarettes and other tobacco products today, but it may be surprising to some just how many individuals still struggle to abstain from smoking.
Whether it is people who grew up in a time when less was known about the ill effects of smoking, or younger individuals — who can't imagine being impacted in such a negative way — giving in to the often misleading advertisements and peer pressure has the potential to turn one cigarette into a lifelong habit with deadly outcomes.
"I think patients and their families are often surprised at the severity of the consequences," said Dr. Bryce Ferguson, pulmonary and critical care doctor and director of the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital. "They may even be in denial that, despite having smoked for year and years, the health problem they're experiencing is due to years of cigarette exposure."
Dr. Ferguson said he will never forget the look of terror in one patient's eyes as the patient was struggling to exhale.
"When you can't breathe, nothing else matters," Dr. Ferguson said. "Imagine what it would feel like to take a deep breath, but then only be able to exhale about 20 percent of the air. Then you do it again, and again. Pretty soon it is extremely uncomfortable as your lungs are totally full and you can't get the relief of exhalation."
Dr. Ferguson often describes the ideal lung functionality like that of a balloon. Air goes in, and then should come out. But patients experiencing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) have lungs like whoopee cushions. The air goes in, but the airways are floppy and collapse down, shutting off the ability to release the air.
Over time, the entire structure of the body changes to adapt to the expanded lungs, Dr. Ferguson said.
And that's just one of the dangers people face after smoking.
Other health issues include shortness of breath, emphysema, cancer and vascular diseases that lead to a greater incidence of stroke, heart attack and kidney disease, said Dr. Ferguson.
"Unfortunately, for the most part, people think they're invincible. They think it won't happen to them," Dr. Ferguson said.
That false sense of security may be due, in part, to the fact that the ill effects of cigarette smoking don't typically manifest until years after the patient starts smoking, and can still be a problem even if the person manages to quit.
"The damage that is done to the lungs is irreversible," Dr. Ferguson said. "People think they can quit and let their lungs heal, but we do not regenerate the lung tissue diseased from smoking."
Even still, quitting is better than generating even more damage, though as anyone who has gone through the process will tell you, cigarettes are extremely difficult to give up.
"Quitting is so hard!" Dr. Ferguson said. "I have had patients addicted to hard drugs like cocaine and heroin and they say that quitting smoking was more challenging than any of those other drugs."
Methods that were originally touted as a way to stop smoking, such as e-cigarettes, have actually been proven to be addictive as well, Dr. Ferguson said. "Some people say that vaping is much safer than smoking cigarettes, but they don't realize the ill effects of vaping can be seen much more acutely than the long-term effects of smoking."
Public awareness campaigns, such as the Great American Smokeout in November, offer resources for those who need help kicking the habit. Log onto www.cancer.org for more information about quitting.
About Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital
Intermountain St. George Regional Hospital is part of Intermountain Healthcare, a nonprofit system of 25 hospitals, 225 clinics, the Intermountain Medical Group with some 2,700 employed physicians and advanced care practitioners, a health plans division called SelectHealth, Homecare, and other health services. Located in Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, Intermountain is committed helping people live the healthiest lives possible by improving community health thru evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes at sustainable costs and is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare. For updates, see https://intermountainhealthcare.org/news.