fewer and fewer smokers in Hauts-de-France, the result of years of awareness

For the ninth year, Santé Publique France and the Ministry of Health are offering a “tobacco-free month” to raise awareness among the French about the dangers of cigarettes and encourage smokers to quit their addiction. And if Hauts-de-France has more smokers than the national average, the region has seen a sharp decline in daily consumers for fifteen years.

Supporting someone in quitting smoking requires patience and a lot of teaching. Amélie Sueur, tobacco nurse at the Abbeville hospital center, knows something about this. “There are still many preconceived ideas about tobaccoshe notes. For example, when you want to quit, you should not only be interested in the number of cigarettes consumed per day, but also the type of tobacco. A rolled cigarette is the equivalent of two or three industrial cigarettes. So saying that we smoke ten cigarettes a day doesn’t mean much. This is why we will often underestimate the dosage necessary for the nicotine substitute..”

She transmits this information every day to her patients, but also to a wider public during tobacco-free month. This public health operation, renewed every year since 2016, aims to intensify the fight against smoking. Last year, more than 16,000 inhabitants of Hauts-de-France registered: it is one of the regions which follows the operation the most. This year, for the occasion, a stand was set up at the reception of the Abbeville hospital, with documentation and help kits for quitting smoking.

Once a week, tobacco doctors and nurses are also on call to encourage discussion. “Some come spontaneously to ask questions on the stand, and sometimes, we go directly to the square in front of the hospital to approach people who are smoking, in order to talk with them in complete relaxation about their tobacco consumption.explains Amélie Sueur. Often, at the beginning, there is a little apprehension, they are afraid of being singled out. But the idea is not at all to feel guilty. It’s very important to explain to them that it’s not just a question of will.“

The earlier we start, and especially when the brain is not yet fully developed, the more likely we are to be highly dependent.

Amélie Sueur, tobacco nurse

The multiplication of this type of prevention operations around smoking seems to be bearing fruit. In Hauts-de-France, which until recently occupied second place on the podium for regions where people smoke the most, we have seen a significant decrease in the number of smokers in recent years. Between 2017 and 2021, the daily smoking rate fell from 30.8% to 26.4%.

Awareness which seems to work particularly on the youngest: theFrench Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies notes a downward trend in tobacco consumption among adolescents. A very important point, because age has an impact on addiction. “The earlier we start, and especially when the brain is not yet fully developed, the more likely we are to be highly dependent“, indicates the nurse.

But if the best solution to protect yourself from the harm of tobacco is not to start, it is entirely possible to give up cigarettes, even after years of consumption. For Amélie Sueur, deciphering the process that creates addiction is essential to beginning effective withdrawal. “The first piece of advice is to try to understand how it works. When you smoke, the nicotine arrives in a shot, it reaches the brain in seven seconds, she specifies. Nicotine will bias the reward system, and the The brain will recognize this substance as something essential for its proper functioning.“It is for this reason that she recommends the use of nicotine substitutes, such as patches, which diffuse the substance continuously in the body and help to disaccustom the brain to nicotine.

A smoker never becomes a non-smoker, he will be an ex-smoker. His brain will retain its appetite for nicotine.

Amélie Sueur, tobacco nurse

On the other hand, the risk of relapse should not be underestimated. “We put the nicotine receptors in the brain to sleep, and they can stay asleep until the end of their life, but you should never smoke again, because you will wake up these receptors, which will immediately recognize the substance. It’s a bit like alcohol, once you’re weaned, you take a big risk if you drink againassures the nurse. A smoker never becomes a non-smoker, he is an ex-smoker. His brain will retain its appetite for nicotine.”

According to the latest figures from Public Health France, in 2021, nearly 6 in 10 daily smokers expressed their desire to quit, and just over a quarter tried to quit during the year.

While the sooner the better, it’s never too late to quit smoking. “Seniors who stop smoking find, after one year, a risk of having a stroke equivalent to that of non-smokers, with the risk of suffering a myocardial infarction decreasing by half.“, underlines the French Cardiology Federation. Stopping smoking also helps reduce the risk of developing lung cancer or COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

It was by treating patients in cardio-respiratory rehabilitation that Amélie Sueur chose to specialize in tobaccoology. “I saw the damage it did“, she confides. Each year, smoking causes 75,000 deaths per year, including 9,000 in Hauts-de-France.

To help you quit smoking, do not hesitate to call 3989 or go to the No Tobacco Month website.

With Narjis El Asraoui / FTV