Smoking cessation reminder

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has published a new article called Tobacco Smoking in Australia: A Snapshot, 2004-05.

Some key points highlighted in this article, which remind dentists of the importance of providing smoking cessation advice to their patients are:

• Tobacco smoking is the largest single preventable cause of death and disease in Australia (Cancer Council 2006).
• Smoking is a key risk factor for the three diseases that cause most deaths in Australia: ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and lung cancer. Smokers are also at increased risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and reduced lung function (DoHA 2006).
• Smoking in pregnancy increases the risk of health problems for both mother and child. (DoHA 2006).
• Smoking is responsible for around 80% of all lung cancer deaths and 20% of all cancer deaths (smoking has been linked to cancers of the mouth, bladder, kidney, stomach and cervix, among others) (DoHA 2006).
• The 2003 Australian Burden of Disease Study indicates that tobacco smoking was second behind overweight among the leading causes of burden of disease in Australia. It was estimated that tobacco smoking was responsible for about 8% of the total burden of disease and injury for all Australians (9.5% of total for males and 6.1% of total for females) (AIHW 2006: Begg et al in press).