RWJ Hamilton Offers Path to Regaining Healthy Lungs and Hearts
RWJ Hamilton Offers Path to Regaining Healthy Lungs and Hearts

Hamilton, New Jersey - With smoking rates among Americans no longer in decline and higher rates of smoking found among people already diagnosed with chronic diseases related to smoking, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJ Hamilton) is stepping up its promotion of smoking cessation in observance of the Great American Smokeout.

Anyone Can Quit, Even After Smoking Over 300,000 Cigarettes
A smoker since age 11, John Carr inhaled 1.5 packs per day—about 300,000 cigarettes in his lifetime—until he suffered a heart attack at age 55. Since that frightful time, he has not picked up a cigarette. Carr had 100 percent blockage in one of the main arteries leading to his heart. He was brought to RWJ Hamilton where he was treated with emergency angioplasty and fitted with a stent, or wire metal mesh tube, to improve blood flow in the artery. "I felt fine that day. I had no idea there was anything wrong," says Carr. A primary contributing factor to Carr's heart attack was a long-term smoking habit, one of the major independent risk factors for coronary heart disease that can be modified or controlled. Carr tried quitting twice before, each time he was successful for about two years, but reverted to his old habit. "Sometimes I'm tempted to pick up a cigarette. Once in a while it looks good, or it smells good, but I just think about how I felt waking up in the ICU. The reality is it will kill me if I start again. That's reason enough not to do it."

Who's Smoking and What Are We Doing About It?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there was no improvement in smoking cessation in the last year and smoking rates were especially high among those who had already been diagnosed with smoking-related chronic diseases (36.9 percent) even though continued smoking has harmful effects on treatment and survival.

At RWJ Hamilton, all patients are given the opportunity to learn about smoking cessation. The hospital, in partnership with the UMDNJ Quit Center, encourages patients to join a seven-week group counseling program or a personalized clinical service offered twice weekly. Nicotine replacement therapy is available at a reduced price.

On November 15, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., community educators will be in the hospital lobby (One Hamilton Health Place, Hamilton) and the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness (3100 Quakerbridge Rd.) with educational materials and information about smoking cessation programs. RWJ Hamilton will raffle ShopRite gift certificates to people signing the "Commit to Quit" pledge.

"We're not just asking you to quit smoking, we'll help you do it," says Diane Grillo, RWJ Hamilton vice president for health promotion. "Stop smoking for one day and prove to yourself that you can go without tobacco. If you want to take it to the next level, we offer smoking cessation programs that will help you quit for good," adds Grillo. "RWJ Hamilton would rather work with smokers on a preventative approach so that emergency cardiac care does not become the only option."

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Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 9, 2007

More About RWJ Hamilton
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton (RWJ Hamilton) is the only New Jersey hospital to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Located in Hamilton Township, NJ, the hospital is part of the RWJ Health System and Network and is affiliated with the University of Medicine and Dentistry New Jersey-RWJ Medical School and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

The RWJ Hamilton Health Care Corporation serves communities within a five-county area and includes an acute care hospital, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey Hamilton, three affiliated medical groups, seven Lakeview Child Centers, and the RWJ Hamilton Center for Health & Wellness, home of a medically-based fitness center and the hospital's extensive community education program. Over 1,900 hospital employees and 650 medical staff physicians share RWJ Hamilton's passion for Excellence Through Service. For more information, visit www.rwjhamilton.org.