Meet the Experts

Dr. Veronica Palmero-Gonzalez

Pulmonologist with South Miami Hospital

Videos

Smoking Is A Strong Addiction

Dr. Veronica Palmero-Gonzalez, Pulmonologist with South Miami Hospital, explains smokers lungs are the damage or the end of years of smoking exposure to the normal lungs. The coloration is abnormal, because the lungs should be pink. "The more people smoke, the more damage will generate in the lungs." Tar (tobacco residue) is a chemical in the cigarette that damages the lungs, and it is hard to get rid of, but if your quit smoking, eventually the body will naturally eliminate it, according to Palmero-Gonzalez.

The Dangers Of Secondhand Smoke

According to Dr. Veronica Palmero-Gonzalez, Pulmonologist with South Miami Hospital, secondhand smoke has potential risk for health, including development of lung cancer, COPD and chronic bronchitis. "In children it is particularly important, because they may develop asthma, ear infections, and respiratory infection." She also recommends creating more free smoking spaces, to prevent problems from secondhand smoke and protect more the secondhand smokers.

Ways To Quit Smoking

Dr. Veronica Palmero-Gonzalez, Pulmonologist with South Miami Hospital, explains having a plan is very important to be successful in quitting smoking. She also says FDA recommended quitting smoking is behavioral measurements, and pharmacology nicotine patch has proven to be very successful in quitting smoking. "What they do is a slowly release of small amounts of nicotine. So the craving and we draw is easier to drive through," she points out and highlights you can also have some other methods of nicotine replacement, like nicotine gum, nicotine inhalers, and nicotine lozenges.

The Challenge Of Quitting Smoking

Dr. Veronica Palmero-Gonzalez, Pulmonologist with South Miami Hospital, explains nicotine is highly addictive. "If patients are already smoking, they have a hard time quitting. There's also a lot of pressure and advertisement in society that make people start smoking, which is one of the goals that we try, as physicians, to prevent." Women's risk of dying from smoking has more than tripled, and now is equal to men's risk. She also says there is no difference between smoking in men and women, and points out lung cancer is the number one killer in both men and women.

Debunking Smoking Myths

The first myths about smoking is that nicotine replacement therapy does not work, but Dr. Veronica Palmero-Gonzalez, Pulmonologist with South Miami Hospital, says it works. “There's plenty of research showing that when you add these methods to the plan when quitting, they increase their rate of successful and also decrease the chances of smoking again in the near future." Another myth is that you cannot use anything else when you are using one NRT product. The doctor says it is false. "We do recommend using both the long-acting which is a nicotine patch and the quick release, like the nicotine gum and it is completely safe to do so," she points out.

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