Non-smoking benefits start day after you stop

I thought that by now, 25 years of no smoking, my risk for a heart attack or lung cancer would have vanished. According to a friend, who thinks he is an MD, that's not the case. He says you never repair the damage done by smoking, and you always have an increased chance of developing cancer or a heart attack. Is that the case? -- W.W. Dr. Donohue: That's not the case. The benefits from not smoking begin the day after a person stops.

Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide, a gas that displaces oxygen from red blood cells. Smokers, therefore, are in a constant state of reduced oxygen supply. That lack ends the day after stopping cigarettes. Most studies estimate that 15 years of not smoking provide former smokers with the same risk of having a heart attack as those who never smoked. The cancer threat might never disappear entirely. However, after 15 years of abstinence, the risk of lung cancer drops from a high of 20 times that of a nonsmoker to around four times that of a nonsmoker. Some feel that the risk eventually will disappear completely.

 Estimates vary from results of different studies. Everyone agrees, however, that the dangers of smoking eventually go up in smoke if a person stops. Dear Dr. Donohue: I am writing to see if the medicine you get in the U.S. is the same as in Canada. My husband and I take Nexium. Our insurance company won't cover its costs, even though our doctor explained that we have tried other drugs in the Nexium family, but they don't work for us. Do Canada's Nexium and the United States' Nexium have the same ingredients?

-- R. Dr. Donohue: The same manufacturer supplies both Nexiums. In Canada, Nexium is marketed as a tablet; in the U.S., as a pill. The active ingredient is the same. Nexium is a member of the group of medicines called proton pump inhibitors. These medicines stop the production of stomach acid.