Family tragedy inspires nurse to fight against smoking
Anita Hrutkay’s passion to convince people to stop smoking is very personal because it is directly linked to a preventable tragedy that occurred in her own family many years ago. Hrutkay, a registered nurse at the Uniontown Hospital who runs a smoking/tobacco cessation program through Fayette HealthLine, told her family’s heartbreaking story during a recent meeting of the Fayette County Community Health Improvement Program.
In 1986, Hrutkay, who was in her late 20s at the time, said her mother was very adamant about trying to get her father, who smoked two or three packs of cigarettes a day, to kick the habit. Her mother was convinced that the second-hand smoke was irritating her.
Hrutkay said her mother was so concerned about smoking and its link to cancer and cardiovascular disease that she donated money on a regular basis to the American Cancer Society.
Although she had never been diagnosed with heart disease, her mother suffered a sudden heart attack. Two days later, Hrutkay said her mother died at age 71.
Six to nine months after her mother died, Hrutkay said her father was tragically diagnosed with lung cancer. He died about two years later at age 72.
“After hearing the personal story about what happened in my own family, I think people realize why I’m so passionate in my attempts to help people to stop smoking,” she said, as tears filled her eyes.
Hrutkay, who spent many years working as an oncology nurse, said she heard many heartbreaking stories from families whose lives have been devastated by illnesses and deaths caused by cigarette smoking.
“Because of my experience as an oncology nurse, I realize that we need to reach out to people who smoke and help them to quit smoking,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times my father tried to quit smoking, but he just couldn’t do it. He was hooked on the nicotine in the cigarettes. Even though he realized that the cigarettes were risking his health, he couldn’t stop smoking.”
Hrutkay said it normally takes nine attempts for someone to kick the smoking habit because the nicotine in cigarette smoke is just as addictive as heroin or cocaine.
“If you buy cocaine and you’re caught, you go to jail,” she said. “But you can go to the store to buy a pack of cigarettes. That’s one of the reasons why it’s so hard for people to quit because cigarettes are everywhere. We make it too easy for them.”
The American Cancer Society says nicotine is addictive for the following reasons:
– When taken in small amounts, nicotine causes pleasurable feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more.
– Smokers usually become dependent on nicotine and suffer both physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms when they stop smoking.
– Because nicotine affects the chemistry of the brain and central nervous system, it can affect the mood and temperament of the smoker.
Hrutkay said smoking leads to diseases that claim the lives of 4 million people around the world each year. Every second, eight people throughout the world die from smoking-related illnesses, including cardiovascular disease and lung cancer.
One out of every four Americans smokes. One in five deaths in people between the ages of 35 and 50 is linked to diseases caused by smoking, according to Hrutkay.
Hrutkay said 30 percent of all cancer deaths, and 87 percent of all lung cancer deaths are directly linked to smoking. Smoking causes an estimated 70 percent of cardiovascular disease.
“Smoking also causes bronchitis, infertility, impotence and suppresses the immune system,” she said.
About 25 percent of high school students took their first puff on a cigarette at the young age of 13, she said.
“Our youth are our future,” Hrutkay said. “It’s important to reach our youth before they start smoking. Because once people start smoking, it’s extremely difficult for them to stop.”
Anyone who starts smoking is at risk of becoming addicted to nicotine, according to the American Cancer Society. Studies show that among addictive behaviors such as the use of alcohol and other drugs, cigarette smoking is most likely to become a habit during adolescence.
When young people become cigarette smokers, the American Cancer Society said they are more likely to become addicted and more likely to suffer from the variety of health problems caused by cigarette smoking.
Hrutkay said tobacco smoke contains at least 43 cancer-causing substances, and smoking causes many kinds of cancer, not just lung cancer. Tobacco use accounts for about one-third of all cancer deaths in the United States.
The American Cancer Society said smoking is responsible for about 90 percent of lung cancers among men and more than 70 percent among women. Cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, kidney, bladder, pancreas, uterine and cervix also have cigarette smoking in common as a major cause.
Hrutkay said cigarette smoking causes several lung diseases that can be just as dangerous as lung cancer. Chronic bronchitis – a disease where the airways produce excess mucus, which forces the smoker to cough frequently – is a common problem for smokers. Cigarette smoking is also the major cause of emphysema, a disease that slowly destroys a person’s ability to breathe.
In 1996, an estimated 16 million Americans suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. This represented a 59 percent increase since 1982. In 1997, COPD killed about 104,000 people and was the fourth-leading cause of death.
The American Cancer Society said smoking cigarettes increases the risk of heart disease, which is America’s number-one killer. About one in five Americans die each year from cardiovascular disease caused by smoking.
“Smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, physical inactivity, unhealthy weight and diabetes are all risk factors for heart disease, but cigarette smoking is the biggest risk for sudden cardiac death,” Hrutkay said.
Despite the health risks caused by smoking, Hrutkay said it is never too late for someone to quit. The sooner smokers quit, the more they can reduce their chances of getting cancer and other diseases.
Hrutkay said smokers should consider the following facts:
– Within 20 minutes of smoking the last cigarette, the body begins a series of regenerating changes.
– After 20 minutes, blood pressure drops to a level close to that before the last cigarette and the temperature of the hands and feet increases to normal.
– After 24 hours, the chance of having a heart attack decreases.
– Within three months, circulation improves and lung function increases up to 30 percent.
– After 10 years, the lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker’s and the risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidneys and pancreas decreases.
– By 15 years, the risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker’s.
In addition to the health-related costs, Hrutkay explained that smoking is an expensive habit. Since each pack of cigarettes costs about $3.50 to $4, she estimated that it costs about $1,400 a year for someone who smokes a pack of cigarettes each day and $2,800 annually for someone with a two-pack-a-day habit.
“I always like to tell people how much money they are going to save if they stop smoking as an added incentive,” Hrutkay said. “A lot of people just don’t realize how much it’s costing them to buy cigarettes. If they don’t want to quit for health reasons, I try to convince them to give up cigarettes so they can save money. I try to reach people any way that I can because I know what happened to my own family, and I want to prevent something like that from happening to other families.”
Hrutkay runs a program entitled “For Your Health,” a smoking/tobacco cessation program approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The program is offered free of charge at the Uniontown Hospital.
For more information or to register for the program, call the Fayette HealthLine at 724-430-3333.