GROTON, Conn. - On Nov. 19, 2009, all Sailors stationed at Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE) will not be permitted to smoke on base in honor of National Lung Cancer Awareness Month. Dubbed the Great American Smokeout, this annual event on the third Thursday of November is designed to help smokers to stop using tobacco products for one day, with the hope that they will eventually kick the habit.
As the Surgeon General warns, lung cancer is one of the many negative impacts of smoking. Lung cancer kills more Americans than breast, prostate, colon, liver, kidney, and skin cancers combined. In 2008, more than 160,000 Americans died from lung cancer, claiming nearly four times as many lives as breast cancer did that year.
Smoking affects small cells in the lungs, changing their basic structure so that the old cells get replaced with altered cells. This mutation, spreading uncontrolled through the tissue, is called cancer and decreases the lung's ability to absorb oxygen into the bloodstream. As a result, the person's health begins to fail.
The Great American Smokeout, celebrated on SUBASE, is just one of many tools to help Sailors looking to quit smoking. For those who already have lung cancer, or are interested in finding out information for affected family and friends, internet sources are available, such as www.lungcanceralliance.org.