August 2002 Volume 83 Number 8 "serving the protectors"

Give up smokes…
for food, wine and travel

A colleague just had a ‘by-pass’ and he might be back to work soon, but we will have to wait and see. He was just talking about giving up smoking, and he has not even turned 60 yet.”

This is an interesting comment heard all too often in the workplaces of South Australia. It is also remarkable, because the causes of heart disease that need treatment by this method are fairly obvious, and almost all of them can be stopped.

Smoking remains the most significant factor because of the devastating effect it has on the heart, and because people continue to do it.

Twenty per cent of South Australians still smoke. This defies logic, as anyone who is still smoking knows. Also, the addiction to nicotine stops smokers from giving up a drug more addictive than heroin. It also tastes awful and smells foul.

Anyone who has eaten interstate would have found it disturbing to sit near a person who was smoking. Fortunately, in SA, we have banned smoking in eating areas. All of the research has shown that, what people like in pubs and restaurants, is no smoking, and SA was a leader in introducing laws accordingly.

Eighty per cent of the population do not like going to a place in which patrons are smoking. They will go elsewhere. That we don’t stop smoking in all public places is illogical. Addiction is probably a more important factor, as is money from cigarettes.

So, what about this guy in his late ’50s who has just had a bypass? Will he live well in the next five years? Depending on how clogged his arteries are from the smoking, he might not be able to work again or, if he takes time off, he might not be able to play with his kids or grandchildren.

The amazing operation that we now accept is the CABG (coronary artery bypass graft), in which we take veins from the leg, turn them upside down and bypass the blocked arteries in the heart. As amazing as this is, this guy could have the same chance of living the next five years if he just gave up smoking.

In other words, you give yourself as much benefit from giving up smoking as you do from having a bypass operation. The new operations and stents make this a bit easier, but most of it is unnecessary because giving up smoking provides the same benefit.

The other thing is that it is usually men who have problems, because they smoke more, don’t keep themselves healthy enough and probably don’t look after their diet and cholesterol as well as women do.

Unfortunately, this might change, but not by the men helping themselves with better health. The most likely future scenario is women taking up smoking and then dying young because of increased heart disease, strokes and lung cancer. Again, women would take up smoking not on the basis of logic, but on that of addiction to nicotine and social acceptance.

If you are a smoker, what should you do? First, lose the guilt. If you smoke and feel guilty, it is not working because you are still smoking. It is bad enough to have the smoking habit.

Next, look at the ways to stop, and work with QUIT or someone like your doctor or chemist with newly available treatments. With all its trouble, the use of a tablet that the Government will subsidize is useful. The government has agreed to pay almost $300 to help people stop smoking, because the long-term illness from smoking is so expensive. Everyone knows that, if the Government is coughing up money, it must be pretty convinced there’s a reason.

Also, there are interesting stories about the side-effects of treatments to stop people smoking. It is amazing that stories about the danger of a stop-smoking tablet create so much interest, and it sounds like excuses not to stop smoking. How sensible is it to be scared of a drug that was reviewed for possibly causing nine deaths in Australia when, each year, about 19,000 people die from the effects of smoking? The medication came out not being the causse of the deaths. It seems more likely that smoking before has been the main issue.

The other treatments for giving up smoking include substituting ways to get nicotine into your system (patches or gum) so that the withdrawals are not so severe. Other means used to reduce the severity of withdrawals include hypnosis and acupuncture.

Either way, it is worth reflecting on the fact that you are smoking. The more times you try, the more likely you are to succeed. And, the more times you stop, the more likely you are to continue off cigarettes.

The other issue that we need to face is that of passive smoking, because we know there are so many diseases around that are exacerbated by passive smoking in the house or workplace.

From a personal point of view, it is worth mentioning to a friend – or yourself – that smoking is not worth it. Give yourself the benefit of a bypass without the pain. Enjoy either a holiday with the money saved, or a taste of SA food and wine that is some of the best in the world – just by giving up smoking.

Your questions answered

Dr Pearce will answer questions on any health issue important to you. For his response, write to or fax the Police Journal with your question. Those who write need not identify themselves.

• Police Journal, PO Box 6128, Halifax St, Adelaide, SA, 5000
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If you prefer to correspond by e-mail, send messages to the associate editor
(brettwilliams@policejournalsa.org.au).

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