The Argonaut: Helping Vapers Kick the Habit
The Argonaut, a local newspaper distributed in Marina del Rey, Santa Monica and surrounding areas, recently interviewed Cedars-Sinai clinical pharmacist Ching Chow, RPH, PharmD, about how the health system is helping patients quit their vaping habit.
For the last several months, Chow has held smoking cessation programs in Playa Vista and Culver City. But, with the rise of vaping–and vaping-related illnesses–Chow recently added a vaping cessation program.
“Vaping has just increased our patient population that we need to help with quitting,” Chow told The Argonaut. “People do understand more [of the dangers] now, especially with recent news reports. It seems that vaping is causing more health issues with patients ending up in the hospital on ventilators. The ingredients in the oils that are vaped seem to be more harmful than cigarettes.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cautions that vaping, which has been marketed as a healthier alternative to smoking, has been associated with at least 2,051 lung injury cases and 39 deaths in 2019. And a recent study from the Smidt Heart Institute showed that vaping could cause even more heart damage than traditional tobacco cigarettes.
“We tell people not to quit cold-turkey because it’s much harder,” Chow told The Argonaut. “We address their physical addiction, talk about ways to avoid certain triggers and develop individual plans to quantify how much a person is using in order to taper down.”
Chow also suggests seeking guidance from your physician, getting moral support from friends and relatives, and making a plan to cope with cravings.
Cedars-Sinai's smoking cessation program offers participants one-on-one counseling with a clinical pharmacist, prescriptions for medications or nicotine replacement aids, and strategies to help control cravings. Health information about the risks of smoking and the benefits of stopping, behavior-modification education and carbon monoxide monitoring also are provided.
Click here to read the complete article from The Argonaut.
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