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Please Take My Children to Work Day
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BOO-BOOS, GERMS & PAP SMEARS:
Health Tips for Your Family
Ready to Quit Smoking?
Don't go it alone
by Kathy Sena
Are you a smoker? Want to kick the habit (with a little help)? Circle Nov. 19 on your calendar right now for the Great American Smokeout. Call the American Cancer Society Quitline at 800-227-2345 to speak with a trained counselor and to receive free, confidential counseling.
Studies have found that using Quitline can more than double a person's chances of successfully quitting tobacco. Callers to Quitline can be connected with smoking-cessation resources in their communities, social-support groups, Web resources and medication-assistance referrals. Since its inception in 2000, Quitline has provided counseling support to more than 380,000 smokers.
Popular online social networks such as Facebook and MySpace are also becoming support channels for people who want to quit, and American Cancer Society Smokeout-related downloadable desktop applications are available on these networks to help people quit or join the fight against tobacco.
"A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that social networks are helpful in quitting smoking," says Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society. "Friends and family can help the most by being aware and supportive of the struggle to quit, and the American Cancer Society has resources to help them show support for their loved one who is trying to quit."
Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S. Each year, smoking accounts for an estimated 443,000 premature deaths, including 38,000 deaths among nonsmokers as a result of secondhand smoke. Half of all Americans who continue to smoke will die from smoking-related diseases.
For more information, visit Cancer.org.
Kathy Sena is an award-winning health and parenting writer and the mother of a 13-year-old son.
Visit her website at KathySena.com
and check out her blog, Parent Talk Today, at
ParentTalkToday.com.
*The opinions stated aren't necessarily those of MommaSaid or its principals. Seek professional advice before beginning any health program.
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