Smoking Cessation

Smoking is a central factor in many pathological conditions. Nearly all smokers have at least some idea of the risks associated with the practice yet chose to smoke anyway. The adverse effects of tobacco use on cardiopulmonary function are well established and recognized; less evident, but equally important, is its impact on all aspects of physical therapist practice, including integumentary, musculoskeletal, and neuromuscular health (Pignataro, Ohtake, & Dino, 2012). Smoking can affect patients all the way from prenatal exposure through all phases of adulthood and thus cessation efforts stand a high likelihood of improving health outcomes.

Furthermore, it is less acknowledged the cigarette smoking affects both the innate and adoptive immune arms. Cigarette smoke was shown to augment the production of numerous pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-?, IL-1, IL-6, IL-8 GM-CSF and to decrease the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-10; tobacco smoke via multiple mechanisms leads...
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