COPD AND QUITTING SMOKING

Spirometry, which measures how much air is inhaled, exhaled and how quickly, is a standard test for lung function. COPD is at present incurable, but if diagnosis and treatment are correct, there are many things that the patient can do to manage it and breathe better. According to statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the most common cause of COPD in Western Europe is smoking. What better way to starting the New Year than with a healthy resolution! Male customer: Hello, do you speak English?

PTA: Hello, yes I do. How may I help you?
One of the resolutions that I made for this year was giving up smoking.

You don’t have any problems with your breathing do you? No shortness of breath, that kind of thing?
Not really. I’ve finally decided to quit because my best friend has COPD.

Was he a heavy smoker?
Oh yeah! 40 a day. I smoke around twenty a day. And after seeing my friend, I decided to quit by the end of January 2020.

You said that you had tried a few times to give up smoking. Which method did you use?
First, I tried reducing how many I smoked, but most of my colleagues smoke and I found myself slipping back into the old habit.

Yes, it isn’t easy to quit when your colleagues are still smoking around you.
Then I gave up completely. I managed without them for about a week, but I was thinking about having a cigarette, all the time!

While there is no one method that fits all, we have this special chewing gum that helps to gradually wean you off the cigarettes and the craving for nicotine.
How does it work?

It helps you to reduce the daily amount of nicotine you get from cigarettes.
Is there anything that I need to keep in mind while using it?

You smoke twenty cigarettes a day, so the gum with 2 mg nicotine should be enough.
Can I chew it like ordinary gum?

It should be chewed slowly until a mild tingling sensation is felt, it should then be rested between the cheek and your gums. Then chew slowly. Release of the nicotine takes about 30 minutes. Over the next 12 weeks you reduce the number of gums that you chew.
I thought it would only take a few weeks!

Apparently, it takes about 66 days on average to make a new habit!
I’ll do my very best!

That’s the spirit! Goodbye.
Bye!

You can find this article at PTA IN DER APOTHEKE 01/20 on page 56.

Catherine Croghan, Lecturer in English and native speaker