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We all know we shouldn’t smoke. Addiction to nicotine increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, sexual dysfunction, cancer, and eventually premature death. However, quitting addiction is not an easy process. How to act so that abstinence does not kill us? Psychiatrists have a way. It is harm reduction.
There is something to work on, because according to WHO data, there are 85 jobs in Poland. premature deaths caused by cigarette smoking. However, prof. dr hab. n. med. Piotr Gałecki, head of the Adult Psychiatry Clinic of the Medical University of Lodz, during the Addiction 2020 conference, noted that people are treated, not addictions. Therefore, the fact that a patient will stop smoking overnight, go on a diet, start playing sports and lead a regular lifestyle is not very realistic. Either he will not follow the above recommendations or he will change the doctor. The last resort may be a method of harm reduction, i.e. using nicotine products that are safer than traditional cigarettes.
- The use of the harm reduction method ensures that the patient does not give up therapy – says prof. Gałecki
- Tobacco heating devices are less toxic, so they have been approved by, inter alia, US Food and Drug Administration
- According to experts, e-cigarettes are as dangerous to health as traditional cigarettes
If all fails, the tobacco heater remains
In 2019, a study of a group of 1000 people over 15 years of age was conducted in Poland, in which 21%, about 1%, declared smoking each day. were occasional smokers, and 10 percent. there were smokers. As you can guess, mainly men smoked daily – 24 percent. compared to 18 percent. women. The addiction mainly affected people aged 30-49, with a lower level of education, inhabitants of medium-sized cities.
However, the results of another study show how difficult it is to quit smoking, which shows that 53 percent women who smoked daily also smoked daily while pregnant.
What do psychiatrists propose to nicotine-addicted people? A method that has been known for a long time.
Prof. Gałecki said about harm reduction: “Thanks to this approach, we can keep the patient in therapy, and if we force him to completely abstain, we can lose such a patient. So harm reduction has its place in addiction treatment. ‘
The recommendations of the Polish Society of Civilization Diseases define the next steps that should be taken by a patient struggling with addiction:
- Seek comprehensive medical and psychological advice.
- Try replacement therapy or drug therapy.
- If the first two steps prove to be ineffective, use tobacco heating systems.
It is safer than cigarettes to deliver nicotine to the body
Tobacco heating devices have been medically tested and are known to reduce the risk of death associated with smoking. At the same time, they fulfill the narcotic aspect of addiction, i.e. providing a dose of nicotine similar to that in a cigarette. They were registered and approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they were also taken into account by the latest recommendations of the Polish Society of Civilization Diseases.
Tobacco heated to a temperature of about 300 degrees C, emits less harmful substances and in lower concentrations than a cigarette, where the tobacco is burned.
– Tobacco heating systems are tar-free and are well tested in terms of toxicology, chemical and behavioral – said Prof. . Piotr Gałecki. – It is known that they are less toxic, and at the same time as attractive as traditional cigarettes (because their use is associated with the same social behavior) and equally satisfying (because they provide the body with nicotine, which many people need, e.g. because it improves memory and concentration – he added.
However, it should be remembered that the therapy does not end with the use of tobacco heaters. They are the stage to achieve full abstinence, which is the main goal.
It’s easiest to change bad habits for the worse, which is why not e-cigarettes
The report of the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene (NIZP-PZH) says that in Poland, people who start smoking most often use traditional cigarettes (52,4%). On the other hand, e-cigarette started smoking every third respondent (32,3%). Tobacco heating devices were the first product for only 0,2 percent. respondents.
E-cigarettes that are gaining more and more popularity in our country are no less harmful than traditional ones. Tobacco is replaced by special liquids, which often do not pass any safety tests or medical tests. So we do not know what ingredients are contained in the liquid inhaled by the person vaping. So vaping cannot be an effective step in the fight against addiction.
– There are a lot of companies in Poland offering e-cigarettes from unknown sources. These are products beyond any control when it comes to health safety and therefore it should be considered that they are as dangerous as traditional cigarettes – emphasized prof. Gałecki.
The editorial board recommends:
- Smoking is a disease!
- Everyone knew they were harmful, but no one expected such an action
- Harmless e-cigarettes are a myth [EXPLAINED]
- E-cigarettes increase the risk of COVID-19 in young people
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