Have you tried to quit smoking? Are you trying right now? On this Tuesday, May 31, 2022, World No Tobacco Day, Doctor Hélène Defay-Goetz, addictologist psychiatrist at the Rouvray hospital center in Sotteville-lès-Rouen, takes stock of the situation and gives advice on how to stop.
In 2017, the region gave the figure of 600,000 daily smokers in Normandy. Since then, there has been the neutral package, the €10 package, social security coverage to help quit smoking, among other things. Did it have any beneficial effects?
So there have been undeniable beneficial effects in the general population. On the other hand, what remains the most complicated are the patients who already suffer from psychiatric problems, and who have much more difficulty than others in quitting smoking.
In terms of treatment, have there been any changes?
A lot. You mentioned the reimbursement of nicotine substitution treatments, which nevertheless allowed access to this care for a lot of people. It is an undeniable help. I prescribe it almost every day, including in hospital. And for those who are on an outpatient basis, this is care to which people did not necessarily have access, because it is expensive, because we are not sure of the effectiveness of the treatment.
Precisely, we talk a lot about the cost of living at the moment, with the refueling of gasoline or diesel which increases, the same for the shopping basket. Of course, when you smoke less or when you stop smoking, it costs less. But is it expensive to quit smoking?
It is necessarily less expensive to quit smoking than to continue smoking. And that is a lever on which a lot of patients go. They also need to be helped to account for the money saved. There are even small applications that work very well, which help you to quantify the gain in money: what we did not spend by not smoking.
At home, in Seine-Maritime and in Eure, where to turn to quit smoking?
First, towards the pharmacist, the general practitioner, the people who know you well. It is necessary to manage to have supports and local accompaniment. The pharmacist is trained to accompany. He will orient towards substitutes or not, give dietary advice, too. So really, it’s a global support that is important, especially for the first tries. Afterwards, I would say that if the first try doesn’t work, well that’s when you’ll have to turn to perhaps a little more specialized care, more precise dietary advice, all the psychological support too, which can be helpful in quitting smoking.
Is it more physical or mental to quit smoking?
So it’s a bit physical. But again, substitutes help us a lot. When I talk about substitutes, I am talking about Nicorette patches, but also, why not, vaping, a substitute that is not yet medicalized, but which is an interesting support. And what is most important is the psychic dependence that will prevent people from staying in their quit because many smokers quit. What is complicated is not to resume.
There are also these disposable electronic cigarettes that arrive in France. Does that worry you?
So it doesn’t worry me that much.
Because, it appeals to young people anyway…
Yes, it seduces young people, indeed, but the vape, too, seduced a young public, who did not necessarily appropriate it for long. In my opinion, it’s a fad. What is most worrying today is still the combustion, the burnt smoke of cigarettes which will, beyond the nicotine, cause much, much physical damage.