It can be quite puzzling to understand why numerous want (or “want”) to quit smoking and fail to do so. The addiction is perhaps stronger than their power to say no, or maybe they just don’t want to quit. Physicians are trying to treat smoking related problems and in the same time talk people out of smoking, but a new study has shown that surprisingly people who have not quit smoking by the age of 65 are more likely to quit smoking.
This came as a shock because the doctors believed that a man who has not quit smoking by the age of 65 is not going to stop; it makes sense, right?
“The current common perception among the medical community is that if smokers age 65 and older haven’t quit by now, they can’t or won’t quit — a perception which may lead physicians to focus less on their older patients’ smoking habit,” said lead study author Virginia Reichert, NP, Center for Tobacco Control, North Shore-LIJ Health System, Great Neck, New York. “Our results show that older smokers are motivated to quit smoking by very different factors compared with younger smokers. If these factors are addressed, we may see cessation rates improve for both age groups.”
Older smokers were more likely than younger smokers to have a recent hospitalization (23% vs 13%), comorbid cardiac disease (78% vs 38%), cancer (20% vs 7%), and/or chronic obstructive lung disease/asthma (37% vs 23%). c”Tobacco-related diseases are major causes of death in the United States,” said Alvin V. Thomas, Jr., MD, FCCP, President of the American College of Chest Physicians. “The more we know about what motivates smokers to quit their habit and what personal obstacles they face in doing so, the more we can tailor smoking cessation programs to fit the individual needs of our patients.”. So smokers who want to quit could wait a little time. They could quit smoking tomorrow.