Tobacco Documents Online

Ifyauwan.t to 4 out of 5 people fail. Fifty-six million Americans are smokers, and the majority of them want to quit. Thirty million Americans have tried .:. and failed. In fact, 4 out of 5 smokers who try to quit fail even short-term, and many of those who succeed short- term eventually return to smoking. Why is it so diff icutt to quit smoking. .. for good? There are three factors-social, psychological, and physical-that work together to continually reinforce the smoking habit. Social factors include the need to feel part of a peer group of smokers. Psychological factors include smoking cigarettes in stressful situations. These two factors must be addressed for smoking cessation to be successful. However, nicotine dependence is a third, often unrecognized factor that can undermine a smoker's willpower during attempls to quit. Nicotine dependence is a powerful reinforcer of the smoking habit. The average smoker gets more than 120,000 "nicotine jolts" in a year, as nicotine travels to the brain within 7 seconds of a puff from a cigarette. Recent studies confirm that many smokers develop a physical dependence on the nicotine derived from smoking cigarettes. Because the body becomes accustomed to the effects of nicotine, smokers trying to quit bften experience withdrawal symp- toms. These include craving for tobacco, irritability, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, restlessness, headache, drowsiness, and gastrointestinal disturbances. How your doctor can hetp... Treatment programs are now available to help smokers who genuinely want to quit. Your doctor can advise you on ways to overcome the physical symptoms of smoking withdrawal while dealing with your social and psychologi- cal motivations for smoking. How a program can help... If you sincerely want to quit and are determined to succeed, you have to confront all three factors of the smoking habit. You shouldn't expect to overcome your problem by dealing with only one factor. Your doctor can help you with all three factors by providing you with medication to overcome nicotine withdrawal, materials that address the social and psychological aspects of smoking, and valuable counseling and follow-up. Your doctor will determine what treatment is right for you. Your doctor is the key. Merrell Dow has conducted research in the field of smoking cessation and is providing support to health professionals to increase their effectiveness in helping patients who really want to quit for good achieve smoking cessation. If you want to quit smoking, your chances are now better than ever before. See your doctor. Follow your doctor's advice. Once you start a quitting program, check back with your doctor to keep him or her informed of your progress. Patients who follow a program for 3 months are much more successful than those who follow one for shorter periods of time. Merrell Dow Dedicated to improving the health of Americans 0 1984, Merrell Dow Ph,armaccuticals Inc.

M%M _r; fields on the outskir'ts of town. Iri the winter he had his trap line; in the spring he was with his father on the trout streams of upstate New York. Al Nashton had been I I years in the Army, and Jeff would probably have enlisted in his father's service had not his brother Mark joined the Marines. Mark had been the wild one of the family; the way the Corps had straightened him out so impressed Jeff that he followed in his footsteps. In the fall of 1981, Jeff married Laurie Palsyn, his high-school sweetheart, who was now working in St. Petersburg, Fla. They had to wait for on-base housing to become available at Lejeune, so Laurie re- mained in Florida and Jeff visited her whenever he could. He and Billy San Pedro drove down Wednesday night before Thanksgiving-Billy's family planned to meet him there. They drove all night, spelling each other 220 at the wheel and talk- ing about their faniilies. -San- Pedro was already something of a legend among the Charlie Company tank men-vastly muscled, he al- ways seemed about to ex- plode plode with energy and high spirits. He had read everything he could get his hands on `- about . Vietnam and voiced regret at having missed it. Even in his early teens there had been no question in his mind about the Corps. He enlisted at 17, which required written per- mission from his parents. This he got only after they extracted the promise that he would continue his schooling and earn credits for a high-school diploma. He called home every Friday between 6:30 and 7 in the evening. One Friday night, after he had been on active duty for a year and a half, he told his father: "Papa, I have a surprise for you." His father replied, "I know what it is." Billy was dumb- founded. "How can you know what it is when I haven't told you?" His father said, "You made me a promise, Billy, and you always keep your word. You've got your diplo- ma: Congratulations!" IN THE FEW MINUTES it took Fran- kie Meno to drive from the tank park, the bomb site had assumed the aspects of an enormous ant hill, a looming heap of crushed concrete aswarm with hundreds of people