[Medical Q&A] What does it mean to quit smoking successfully?

Planner: Chinese Medical Association

Reviewer: Xiao Dan, Researcher, China-Japan Friendship Hospital

Generally speaking, a smoker is considered to have successfully quit smoking if he or she does not smoke at all for more than one year.

The process of quitting smoking is generally like this: at the beginning, smokers who are in the early stage of thinking do not want to quit smoking; as they become more aware of the harmfulness of smoking, smokers will enter the thinking period. They are often in a dilemma. On the one hand, they can recognize the harm of smoking, but on the other hand, they find it difficult to give up the cigarettes in their hands; after a period of thinking, smokers begin to plan to quit smoking; next, they will put quitting smoking into practice and enter the action period; followed by the maintenance period, during which the smoking cessation behavior will be consolidated. If it continues, the smoker will quit smoking successfully. If it cannot be maintained, it will enter the relapse period and return to the initial thinking period. From this point of view, quitting smoking is a complete process. The longer the quitting time, the more stable the quitting results. It should be noted that the withdrawal symptoms (such as irritability, anxiety, headache, insomnia, etc.) produced by smokers in the early stage of quitting smoking begin to appear a few hours after stopping smoking, and are most obvious within the first 14 days of quitting smoking, and then gradually alleviate until they disappear. Because nicotine in tobacco can eliminate withdrawal symptoms, smokers who quit smoking often relapse after withdrawal symptoms appear, thus making their efforts to quit smoking fall short. Smokers must be aware that tobacco addiction is not a behavioral habit, but a chronic disease. Successful smoking cessation is progressive and phased. They must work towards the goal of long-term smoking cessation and constantly solve various problems in the process of smoking cessation. The earlier the smoking cessation plan is started and the longer it lasts, the greater the health benefits will be for the individual.