Do cigarettes or tobacco have control over your life? You can stop smoking, and we can help. It may seem impossible, but it’s not. Smoking cessation classes and medication have helped millions of smokers around the nation kick the habit.

Norton Healthcare offers free classes to help you achieve a healthy, smoke-free lifestyle. Classes follow the American Lung Association Freedom From Smoking program, proven to be effective for millions of smokers.

To register for an upcoming class, click here or call (502) 629-1234, option 4.

Freedom From Smoking Sessions

The classes typically meet at locations throughout Louisville and Southern Indiana. At this time, classes are being held online. Classes meet for eight 60- to 90-minute sessions over seven weeks:

• Weeks 1 to 3, we focus on behaviors, triggers, what drives you to smoke and medications to help you quit.
• Week 4 is quit week.
• Weeks 5 to 7, we focus on long-term strategies to stay tobacco-free.

Benefits When You Quit

Within 20 minutes after you smoke that last cigarette, your body begins a series of changes that continue for years.

• Twenty minutes after quitting, your heart rate drops.
• Twelve hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
• Two weeks to three months after quitting, your heart attack risk begins to drop. Your lung function begins to improve.
• One to nine months after quitting, your coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
• One year after quitting, your added risk for coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.
• Five to 15 years after quitting, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker’s.
• Ten years after quitting, your risk of death from lung cancer is about half that of a smoker’s. Your risks for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease.
• Fifteen years after quitting, your risk for coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker’s.

For more information, call (502) 899-6842.

Free tobacco cessation classes also are available for teens ages 14 to 17. Visit NortonChildrens.com/Classes&Events or call (502) 629-1234, option 4, for more information and available classes.