Nichole Ironstand is hoping technology and the support of friends and family will help her break off a 13-year-old relationship.
The 23-year-old Winnipegger is among thousands of Manitobans trying to start the New Year off by giving up smoking. After several failed attempts, she’s hoping the newest social media tool provided by the Canadian Cancer Society’s Smokers Helpline will give her the edge that she needs.
“I’ve smoked since I was 10 years old,” Ironstand says. “I’ve tried to quit before without having much luck.”
Developed in partnership with Health Canada, www.breakitoff.ca is a website that combines traditional stop-smoking aids with new social media tools. The website has an application for cell and smart phones designed to help young people become part of the world’s biggest break up. By downloading the app, Manitobans will learn about the best ways to quit smoking and stay tobacco free. The website also allows smokers to upload a rant to YouTube about what quitting smoking means to them and it also encourages them to publicly end their relationship with smoking on facebook.
“We’ve got programs to help all Manitobans quit smoking and now we’re taking the fight to younger people,” says Will Cooke, tobacco advocacy coordinator at the Canadian Cancer Society. “People who visit the website or download the break it off phone app will learn about the best ways to quit smoking and stay tobacco free.”
The social media tool will launch next week just in time for National Non Smoking Week (January 15-21, 2012) which will also carry the theme Breaking Up is Hard to Do. It will compare a smoker’s addiction to tobacco with being involved in a bad relationship. “We’re all dedicated to helping people identify why this is a bad relationship and what they need to do to get out of it,’’ Cooke says.
Ironstand, a mother of two young children, knows why she wants to quit. “I smoke more than half-a-pack-a-day so it costs me a lot of money,’’ she says. “But mostly, I don’t want my kids to start and I know they’re more likely to smoke if I don’t give it up.”
Cooke says Ironstand is not alone. Manitoba continues to have one of the highest smoking rates in Canada. Cooke says young adults like Ironstand – aged 20 to 24 – continue to smoke more than any other age group. “In Manitoba, about 27% of this group are still lighting up,’’ he said.
The Canadian Cancer Society has targeted smoking rates in Manitoba because tobacco use continues to be the leading causes of preventable cancer. Smoking is responsible for 85% of Lung Cancer and 30% of all cancer deaths. Lung Cancer kills more Manitobans than any other cancer. This year alone, 900 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed and sadly 680 Manitobans will lose their battle with this disease.
Cooke says the provincial government’s recent decision to add the stop smoking medication Champix to the Pharmacare program will provide all Manitobans who want to quit with another valuable tool. “Champix has been proven to be effective and may be something that Manitobans who smoke might want to consider.’
For now, Ironstand is going to stick with the supports provided by the Smokers’ Helpline. This free, confidential service is available to all Manitobans in French and English. Callers are connected with a personal Quit Coach who can prepare a person for quitting and answer all their questions. The toll-free helpline (1-877-513-5333) has been shown to double a person’s chances of going tobacco free. It is supported by an online support system that can be found at www.smokershelpline.ca
Nichole thinks that with all these options, she has a better chance of quitting this time around. “I’ll definitely check out the website” says Nichole. “One of these times I’ll stay quit.”
Short-term Challenges for Long-term Benefits
• Tobacco smoke contains more than 4,000 chemicals including about 70 known carcinogens that cause and promote cancer
Withdraw symptoms start within the first four hours of your last cigarette, peaking within three to five days and diminishing over a six month period. The symptoms include:
• Light-headedness in first 48 hours
• Dry cough and sore throat as lungs begin to clear
• Cravings to have a cigarette lasting about three minutes diminish within first 10 days
• Irritability and depression in week two
• Within two days – Taste and sense of smell improve
• Within two weeks – Blood circulation in your gums and teeth improve
• Within 1 month – breathing and energy levels improve as lung regeneration starts
• Within 3 months – Cough disappears and appetite improves
• Within 1 year – Your risk of heart disease drops by 50%
• Within 5 years – Your risk of having a stroke is the same as a non-smoker
• Within 10 years – Your risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of a smoker
• Within 15 years – your risk of heart disease is now that of a non-smoker
