November 2012
Breathe Easier
Smoking and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) both make it harder to breathe. Take action today. Breathe better tomorrow. COPD kills one person every four minutes in the US, and half of the people who have COPD remain undiagnosed. Get screened to see if you may be at risk.
The primary cause of COPD is tobacco smoke (through tobacco use or second-hand smoke). Quitting smoking is an important step in the prevention of COPD.
If you smoke or you care about someone who does, free help is only a phone call away:
Maryland Tobacco Quitline 1-800-QUIT-NOW
Allegany County Health Department 301-759-5050
WMHS Community Health & Wellness 240-964-8418
When someone lights a cigarette, the smoker inhales only 15 percent of the smoke. The other 85 percent becomes secondhand smoke, leaving those around exposed to the same tar, nicotine, cyanide, arsenic, methane, carbon-monoxide and other cancer-causing chemicals as the person smoking the cigarette. Last year, secondhand smoke killed about 1600 non-smoking Marylanders. Protect those you love, keep your home smoke free.
