Category: Advise Quit Tobacco

Articles on how to advise patients to quit tobacco, on how to drive the conversation and how to approach to motivate to quit tobacco

Dilemma of a Doctor – Advise to Quit or Not?

Dilemma of a doctor – A 44 year old tobacco chewer with advance stage of cancer – should he be asked to quit tobacco???

Author – Dr. Monalee Prasad, BDS(2007), PGD in Aesthetic Dentistry (2009),TII -IDA(2020) ,OCTC (2021), CTCS (2021).

This is a case of a 44 year-old male patient suffering from Stage IV recurrent oral cancer with extensive neck and systemic metastasis. He was being treated somewhere in Uttarakhand. He attended OPD for treatment. He has been a chronic chewer and smoker for years and he continues to do so even after being diagnosed with advanced cancer with a short life expectancy. Besides the palliative treatment, the big question is about his tobacco – Should we ask him to quit? Or should we not ask him to quit?

How should we plan his treatment with regards to tobacco cessation?

The case was put for discussion during the tutorial for Certified Tobacco Cessation Specialists were – different difficult cases that we come across in Tobacco Cessation practice and their treatment are planned. It was a mixed opinion with more suggesting  that the patient should be told to quit tobacco.

The same question was put in the group who are actively working for tobacco control and the majority said that the above patient needs to quit so that the treatment will be helpful and the organs will respond better to treatment.

Now opinion from group of oncologists was seeked, unanimously they said there is no need for him to quit tobacco.

The argument put forth by was that with Stage IV cancer there is no hope of his long survival and it will not be of much help at this juncture to force him to quit. Also the handling of withdrawal symptoms is more difficult in this case along with the Palliative care that has to be provided. It will not improve the quality of life of this already dying patient.

Hence, it wouldn’t matter whether we advise him to quit or not. It would be his wish.

Also, in case we are able to convince him to quit; there are two case scenarios which were discussed and how we can use it as a positive messaging for the next generation.

One scenario is where he is able to quit completely and then the message that can be conveyed through him that even though he suffered from taking tobacco and has reached the last stage of his life, he could quit his habit with the help of our esteemed doctors. And if he can do it, anyone at any stage can do it and the sooner one quits, the better it is for health.

Second case scenario is when he is unable to quit despite all the efforts by the doctors and himself and he continues to smoke till his last breath. The message that we can pass on in this situation is that Tobacco is a deadly disease and really addictive one. Message is clear for the youngsters and family members – never to start such a habit and quit as early as possible. BE SMART DO NOT START and if you have then please QUIT.

So, an important learning was shared via this case by Dr. Pawan as to how to choose the messaging we need to convey to the society at large and always choose the treatment keeping the patient’s overall benefit in mind.

Medical treatment is available to quit tobacco and treatment from the cessation specialists should be seeked.

Do share your thoughts on this in the comments below? What would be your choice of treatment?

Pledge to Advice Quit Tobacco – Interaction with Doctors And Paramedics Of Bhardwaj Hospital

PLEDGE TO ADVICE QUIT TOBACCO – Interaction with doctors and paramedics of Bhardwaj Hospital

Schedule: 18th February 2023 Time: 2:30 pm onwards

An interactive session with enthusiastic members staff of Bhardwaj Hospital Sector 29, Noida as part of #oraloncologyconnect CME and #advisequittobacco was conducted

The program was arranged by Mr. Kunwar Chauhan and his team of MAX Vaishali Sales.

The program was coordinated by Dr. Saurabh Gupta  administrator of the Hospital and Dr. Abhishek Kumar, a Physician with a special interest in tobacco related diseases.

The Interactive oral oncology connects sessions were attended by 53 doctors and paramedics.

Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch. Director HN MAX Hospital, Founder of ICanCaRe, and MASTER trainer convenor for Tobacco Courses interacted with the participant and gave the following messages to them

  • ORAL CANCER IS A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM and all MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS TSHOULD JOIN HANDS TO CONTROL THIS EVER INCREASING DISEASE
  • Tobacco is a disease and not just an habit, it has to be treated as a disease.
  • Tobacco cessation is possible – Medical Treatment is available
  • SPECIALISED TOBACCO CESSATION SPECIALIST are now available and they should be consulted for cessation.
  • Courses are available and delivered by ICanCaRe for the doctors and paramedics.
  • Every hospital should have ORAL CARE and TOBACCO CESSATION CENTRE at prominent visible location.

Dr Pawan Gupta emphasized that it is a moral duty of all health care professionals to ADVISE QUIT TOBACCO to all their patients and others also.

There was special interest in knowing about tobacco-related cancers and how to control the same. especially in chewing tobacco which is so rampant in India. Dr. Pawan Gupta M.Ch. Director of Cancer Surgeons, MAX Hospital, Patparganj, and Vaishali, made them aware that quitting tobacco is possible and that one can quit tobacco with proper intervention by a Tobacco Cessation Specialist. TRISCaRe the innovative mouth opener device was also demonstrated. Dr. Pawan apprised that besides being a fine surgeon he is also the MASTER TRAINER of Tobacco Cessation courses run by Gujarat University and conducted by ICanCaRe.

The main emphasis was on involving the first echelon doctors for controlling the biggest killer cancer of India which is head and neck cancers and prevention with tobacco cessation and early detection by regular examination.

#MAX #oraloncologyconnect #icancare #icancareacademy #pawangupta #tobaccomarshal #advisequittobacco #savetheyouth

 

Avoid Second Malignancy – Guide Quit Tobacco – Moral responsibility of a treating doctor

A treating doctor’s moral responsibility is to guide the patient to quit tobacco of any form. Second malignancy can be avoided. The same should be enforced each time the patient comes for a follow-up.

Call ICanCaRe Quitline 011-43077695 for a medically validated intervention to quit tobacco. Or visit any of the nearby ICanCaRe tobacco Cessation centers for intervention.