Quitting Your Smoking Bahbit

Dr. Don Kennedy wants to help you live a longer, healthier life.

Whether you're a smoker, or live around someone who is, the sobering facts of smoking's effects on the human body are irrefutable. According to the latest data on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site, smoking:

• Causes nearly 90 percent of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80 percent in women. The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes, and about 13 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with never smokers.
• Causes bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas and stomach cancers as well as acute myeloid leukemia.
• Causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. Cigarette smokers are two to four times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than nonsmokers.
• Doubles a person's risk for stroke.
• Causes nearly 90 percent of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung diseases.
• Has many adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, including an increased risk for infertility, preterm delivery, stillbirth, low birth weight and sudden infant death syndrome.
• Contributes to lower bone density among postmenopausal women. Women who smoke have an increased risk for hip fractures than never smokers.

The CDC says more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined.

All in all, cigarette smoking accounts for an estimated 438,000 deaths, nearly 1 of every 5 deaths, each year in the U.S. The CDC says more deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides and murders combined.

Yet 1 in 5 people in this country still smoke.

Your Smoking Bahbit

Kennedy believes his multi-faceted anti-smoking program can have a significant impact: "What if I could get a million people off cigarettes to live longer, healthier lives?"

The program includes three CD's: an introduction, seven steps to stop smoking and what Kennedy calls an emergency CD, 14 candid discussions to help you get through those times of overpowering urge. The package also features an action guide with activities that teach you to stay off nicotine and a personal journal to record your progress. Kennedy uses colors for emphasis and impact, such as black balls representing carcinogens and red balls representing nicotine. And he uses emotions. "I yell at you sometimes," he said. He describes various medications on the market today but says his program doesn't rely on drugs to get you off smoking. One unique aspect of his strategy is the email support he offers to help smokers battle their addiction.

The package will be offered through a link on his Web site, www.bahbits.com, for $97, including 60 days of email support. A small monthly fee will be charged to continue email support beyond then.

Kennedy's anti-smoking initiative follows a book he wrote on how people can achieve healthier, more balanced lifestyles. Called 5 a.m. & Already Behind, the book was published early last year by Morgan James Publishing in New York. In writing the book, Kennedy coined the phrase "bahbits," or bad habits.

A family physician for 25 years, Kennedy is affiliated with Murdock Family Medicine. He has seen several of his elderly patients die from their smoking bahbits. When he fills out a death certificate, he has to write the probable cause of death. Smoking is the only related habit, disease or addiction that has its own box to check. "I'm so tired of checking that box," he said, noting that 37.5 percent of preventable deaths in this country are attributed directly to smoking.

His avowed hatred of cigarettes traces to his childhood. Born in Kissimmee, Fla., he and his siblings were raised by their mother, a waitress who married five times and moved often. He said he tinkered with cigarettes as a teenager and didn't like them, but his mother was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer at age 64 after several years on oxygen.

"I learned to be a survivor," Kennedy said of his early life. After completing some college and a stint in the Air Force, at age 28 he secured the financing needed to enroll in the University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Mo. He relocated to Port Charlotte in 1984 and later received an MBA from Stetson University.

A member of the National Speakers Association, Kennedy speaks widely to groups on health issues. He said he's picked up marketing techniques from such sought-after speakers as Michael Gerber, a consultant and author of books on business skills - he wrote the foreword to 5 a.m. & Already Behind - and Mark Victor Hansen, a motivational speaker and author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

One tactic Kennedy plans to employ in promoting his antismoking program is the use of cards that look like cigarette packs and direct people to his Web site. "They can be given to anyone and will be part of the package along with the expectation that everyone who does the program will be asked to join the ‘Bahbit Movement' and hand out at least five cards," he said. "There is nothing more powerful than the messawge of a previous smoker."

Will smokers be reluctant to try quitting at a time when they're experiencing recession anxiety? "There'll always be excuses," Kennedy said. "It's an addiction. You'll always have an excuse. Besides, the minute you stop, you'll save money."

Kennedy's anti-smoking program will be available soon. Until then, visit www.iquitsmokingfacts.com to read his report, "7 Quit Smoking Myths," and be among the first to be notified when his program is available.

Kennedy’s Seven Steps to Stop Smoking

1. Understand that "later" is already here. Realize now that it’s already late to quit.
2. Understand how addiction works.
3. Understand how the various medications work and talk to your doctor as to which one you should try, if necessary.
4. Understand that the greatest barrier to quitting is your rituals, e.g. that morning cup of coffee with a cigarette at the kitchen table as you contemplate the stresses of the day ahead. Break up your rituals.
5. Get rid of your excuses.
6. Make a plan and tell somebody. Get started today. Have that somebody hold you to it.
7. Sign a contract with yourself to get rid of your smoking bahbit.