special subjects
Smoking and Other Tobacco Use
Diagnosis of Tobacco Use
Questions from health care professionals It is recommended that health care professionals ask everyone about tobacco use. For many people, smoking is an addiction needing medical treatment. Assessing a person's quantity of use (the number of cigarettes smoked per day [presently and in the past]) and how soon they smoke upon waking up (within 30 minutes is a useful measure) can provide an indication of the severity of tobacco dependence andnicotineaddiction. Responses also can help guide the choice of cessation medication and its dosing. Nicotinepoisoning can be overlooked. For example, children may swallow cigarettes ornicotinegum without being seen. Even when children are observed with tobacco in their mouth, it can be difficult to tell how much they have actually swallowed. People with green tobacco sickness may not connect their symptoms with handling tobacco. 