Smoking cessation: successful intervention

Despite a wealth of information in the lay and medical literature on the detrimental health effects of smoking, 48 million Americans still use cigarettes. Of these people, approximately 430,000 will die each year as a direct result of their nicotine addiction. Good evidence exists that quitting smoking greatly reduces serious health risks. As part of comprehensive and complete medical care, primary care practitioners should be actively identifying their patients who smoke, and counseling on smoking cessation should be part of every clinical encounter. To be successful, clinicians must first understand nicotine addiction and the armamentarium available to themselves and their patients. Only then will they be prepared to offer advice and counseling, as well as assistance in the form of pharmacological therapy.