Diabetes, Smoking Cessation Classes

DANBURY — Danbury Hospital will offer its next series of free Wednesday evening diabetes education classes beginning Wednesday, October 3, 10, and 17, in the fifth floor South Building conference room from 6 to 8 pm.

Diabetes education classes are geared toward group learning, and are not intended for individual counseling. The goal of the classes is to help patients and family members gain an understanding of the relationship between blood sugars, activity, and eating habits in order to successfully manage diabetes. Attendance at all three programs is strongly encouraged.

Space is limited, and preregistration is required to attend the diabetes education classes. For more information and to register, call Joyce Morrison, Danbury Hospital Food and Nutrition Services, at 797-7418.

Danbury Hospital is also holding a six-week comprehensive smoking cessation program beginning Tuesday, September 25 from 6 to 7 pm. in the Praxair Cancer Center conference room. Quit Now covers the basics of nicotine addiction, methods for quitting and behavior modification, exercise and nutrition, stress management and relaxation techniques and relapse prevention.

“Cigarette smoking accounts for 440,000 US deaths annually,” said Marianne Mitchell, APRN, Quit Now instructor. “Passive cigarette smoking may account for 3,000 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers and contributes to some 300,000 respiratory tract infections in children.”

Danbury Hospital’s Quit Now smoking cessation program uses a combination of medication therapy, behavior modification, and ongoing support services. It also provides consultation/assessment, counseling, treatment planning and group programs.

A monthly support group, Stay Quit, also meets at Danbury Hospital for graduates of Quit Now. The group helps with relapse prevention by providing ongoing support.

Fifty percent of people who complete the Quit Now program remain smoke-free after one year.

“A success rate that high is almost unheard of,” said Michael Walker, MD, thoracic surgeon and medical director of the Lung Cancer Program at Danbury Hospital. “We’re dedicated to making our smoking cessation program as supportive as possible because one of the best ways to treat lung cancer is through prevention.”

Cost of the six-week “Quit Now” program is $150. For more information or to register, call Mitchell at 739-8161.

Arrangements also can be made to provide work-site smoking cessation programs at local corporations or individual sessions.