When it comes to smoking, we have both some good news and some bad news to discuss. 

Let’s start with the bad news: 42.1 million Americans still smoke regularly.¹ Tobacco use remains the largest preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States, and there are over 480,000 premature deaths annually that are related to tobacco use. This means that around one out of every five deaths that occur each year in the United States is related to smoking._²

Now for some good news: people are smoking less and less all the time. Between 2005 and 2016, the percentage of US adults who smoke has decreased from 20.9% to 15.5%.³ In adults who have ever used cigarettes, 59% have quit as of 2016, which has increased from 50.8% in 2005. Going back even further in time, there were more than twice as many smokers (as a percentage) in 1965 compared to today.³

Although the change is happening gradually and slowly, this is a war that we appear to be...

It may surprise some people, but by statistics, alcohol is by far the deadliest drug. Alcohol is responsible for 88,000 preventable deaths annually in the United States.¹ Many of these are related to chronic diseases caused by alcohol use, such as liver disease and heart disease. Additionally, close to 30% of all fatal motor vehicle accidents (more than 10,000 per year) occur as a result of alcohol-impaired drivers.² That means that one person dies from an alcohol-impaired driving incident every 50 minutes.  It should also be noted that 48% of all perpetrators of homicide drank alcohol directly before the murder,³ and 40% of all victims of homicide were under the influence of alcohol.⁴  Alcohol use is similarly correlated with other violent crimes including robbery, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault. It can become a crippling addiction, responsible for the destruction of many relationships, careers, and families. 

Given its devastating impact on both...

The term “unhealthy drug use“ means either the use of illicit drugs or misuse of prescription medications. Similar to alcohol abuse, unhealthy drug use is a very serious cause of death, injury, and mental and physical illness. In June 2020, the USPSTF officially recommended that doctors ask questions to screen patients for unhealthy drug use.¹  After identification of individuals struggling with this issue, it has been shown that behavioral or pharmacologic interventions make a significant improvement.^2-3 The task force's recommendation applies to all individuals 18 and older.

Illicit drugs such as methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, inhalants, and hallucinogens have no therapeutic benefit, carry a significant risk of harm, and are always considered problematic. Unfortunately, misuse of prescription medications can be just as dangerous. Common prescription medications that are subject to abuse include opiate pain medications, stimulants (usually used for treatment of...

Most screening tests are fairly straightforward… frequently they are as basic as an x-ray or a lab test. This is not the case for depression, however.. With depression, the majority of symptoms are very subjective and personal for each individual. This means it is a little more complicated to screen for, but doesn’t mean that it’s not incredibly important.

In the United States, depression affects approximately 8% of individuals 12 years of age and older.¹ There are around 16 million adults who had at least one major depressive episode per year.² Worldwide, depression is the leading cause of disability.³

Common symptoms of depression are:⁴

• a lack of interest in doing things that would normally cause enjoyment

• depressed mood

• problems sleeping

• feelings of guilt

• worthlessness, or hopelessness 

• decreased energy levels 

• trouble concentrating 

• changes in appetite or eating habits

• a “slowing” of your motions

• suicidality

...