Dr Maurice: Quitting smoking depends a lot on the smoker

0

Varenicline (Champix) is often used to help patients quit smoking.

Dr Maurice Steve Utap

MIRI: How many sticks of cigarettes do you smoke a day? How long does the nicotine addiction kick in after you wake up every day?

These are the two prime questions Dr Maurice Steve Utap, a consultant and officer-in-charge of the government’s smoking cessation programme at Tudan Polyclinic since 2011, will ask his patients before prescribing a programme for them to quit smoking.

“Research shows that a smoker who smokes more than 20 sticks of cigarettes a day and has the urged for a dose of nicotine within 20 minutes after waking up every morning has a serious addiction issue,” he told The Borneo Post in a recent interview.

On the difficulty of quitting smoking, he said it depended very much on the patients’ personal and psychological makeup.

“Some set goals and worked towards it. Some do it due to health issues, demands by loved ones and others. It really depends on how determined the patients wanted to quit and the reasons behind it.”

On how soon a smoker can quit the habit if they followed a cessation programme, Dr Maurice said it depended on the individuals.

“Some need a month only, while others may need a longer time. But if a smoker can totally stop smoking for at least six months and above, it is deemed successful.”

“A smoking couple once joined the programme due to health issues. The wife had asthma after years of smoking. Due to her determination and under the aid of prescribed medicine, she successfully kicked the habit a month later. Not only that, she actually won back her health.

“Unfortunately, her husband, who has no intention to quit, continues to indulge in this unhealthy habit.”

On the effects of following a quit smoking regime, Dr Maurice said in the first week, patients will be able to sleep better as the nicotine content in their bodies decline, and they should regain their strength to exercise by the third week.

Dr Maurice said it is easy to tell a smoker and a non-smoker apart from their physical appearance.

Smokers generally have drier skin, less appetite, yellow teeth, breathing difficulty, and their body smell of tobacco.

On the smoking cessation programme, he explained it helped smokers through counselling and medication.

The counselling sessions would touch on the side effects of smoking on health, family, economy and environmental pollution.

Dr Maurice, however, admitted that the side effects of smoking had remained controversial somewhat.

“There are those who smoked since young but remain healthy. There are those suffering various health problems. Although there is really no evidence to prove it, we still advise our patients that instead of justifying the ills of smoking, quitting is the best way to lead a healthier lifestyle.”

On the use of medication, he explained that during the withdrawal phase, since the body was not used to not having nicotine, the urge to smoke again will arise.

“This is where medication comes in, to aid the patient by suppressing the nicotine urge.”

In Malaysia, Varenicline (Champix) is the prescribed drug for those who wanted to quit smoking.

Dr Maurice pointed out that the drug is not a nicotine substitution, and had a 50 per cent success rate.

“The possible side effects of taking this drug include nausea, dizziness, insomnia and headache.

“For those who undergo nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) by chewing gums that contain a very low percentage of nicotine, they may experience tooth decay and sore throat, and the success rate is relatively low.

After being in-charge of the programme for the last six years, Dr. Maurice noted that the age of smokers had gone down.

“At the moment, I am dealing with a patient who is only 11 years old. Although his parents have been very cooperative with us, it is a difficult case as we are dealing with a young child with weak will power.

“In addition, since it is against the law to prescribe medication, we face the challenge of having to adjust our counselling programme to suit the young patient, emotionally.”

Dr Maurice said his team had a mountain to climb to help smokers quit the habit, but they would not give up.

“We rather take this as a challenge. I strongly believe that we will achieve success eventually.”