SIU Cancer Institute Program to Address Quit Smoking Ideas and Benefits

Educating smokers on the health risks and providing ideas and benefits for quitting are the subjects of a public education event sponsored by the SIU Cancer Institute on Thursday, November 18, from 5 to 7 p.m. The event will be held in Memorial Medical Center's Wedeberg Conference Center, 701 N. 1st St. It coincides with the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout and Lung Cancer Awareness month.

The program begins with an opportunity for visiting a series of information booths and acquiring coupons for free health screenings. Five short presentations by local physicians will follow. Dr. Tony J. DeMartini, cardiologist with Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants and a clinical assistant professor of cardiology at SIU, will speak on the effects of smoking on the cardiovascular system. Dr. Aamir M. Zakaria, assistant professor of vascular surgery at SIU, will talk on smoking and vascular disease. Dr. Richard M. Bass, professor of otolaryngology at SIU, will speak about smokers' risk of getting head and neck cancer. Dr. Akshay Sood, assistant professor of pulmonary medicine at SIU, will speak on lung disease and ideas for quitting smoking. The program concludes with Dr. Stephen R. Hazelrigg, professor and division chair of cardiothoracic surgery at SIU, talking about the latest treatments for lung cancer. All the physicians will discuss the benefits of quitting smoking.

Exhibitors will include the Thoracic Oncology Program at SIU, the Head and Neck Oncology Team at SIU, the SIU Center for Cardiac and Vascular Health, SIU Division of Hematology/Oncology, the Prairie Heart Institute, the American Cancer Society, the Springfield Health Department in collaboration with the American Lung Association, Memorial Medical Center's Cancer Center and Smoking Cessation program, and St. John’s Stop Smoking program.

Light refreshments will be served. To make a reservation, contact Carol at 217-545-7133 weekdays.

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