COPD is now the 4th leading cause of death in the United States. Heart disease, stroke, cancer of the lungs, the throat, the bladder, and leukemia are all linked to tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke kills as many as 50,000 annually in the United States. The health benefits of smoking cessation are indisputable. The risk for stroke equals those individuals who never smoked after 5 years.
Former smokers live longer and healthier than their smoking counterparts.
If you were an executive for a HMO group, you would be acutely aware of the economic consequences of smoking. Smokers experience more bouts of acute bronchitis and have a higher incidence of acute pneumonias. To paraphrase Benjamin Franklin, an ounce of prevention in COPD is definitely better than a pound of treatments. You will not diagnosis tobacco dependence unless you suspect nicotine addiction. You recognize nicotine addiction by detecting symptoms of signs of nicotine withdrawal.