Mayo Clinic Minute: Advice for quitting on Great American Smokeout Day
As the U.S. celebrates another Great American Smokeout, there’s good news about smoking rates.
The overall and daily smoking rates continue to decline, according to new statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the CDC, the proportion of U.S. adults who smoke cigarettes declined from just under 21 percent in 2005 (45.1 million smokers) to just over 15 percent in 2015 (36.5 million smokers). The number of daily smokers also declined.
Despite the drop in rates, the CDC says tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S., and cigarettes are the most common tobacco product among adults.
In this Mayo Clinic Minute, reporter Jeff Olsen speaks with Dr. J. Taylor Hays, director of the Mayo Clinic Tobacco Dependency Clinic, about the strategies Mayo Clinic uses to help smokers kick the habit.
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (1:01) is in the downloads. Read the script.