Helping to kick the habit
By Sue Weston, Tobacco Control Coordinator at NHS Warwickshire
Everyone knows that smoking is bad for you. It remains one of the main causes of disease and death in the world. With 9.4million smokers in the UK (about a sixth of the population), of those that do not make the effort to quit half can expect to die because of their addiction.
Equally the majority of smokers (70%) would like to quit. Wednesday 10 March is National No Smoking Day and the theme of this year’s event is ‘breaking free’. So what better time to make the commitment to kick the habit? There are plenty of incentives, here are just a few:
- Younger looking skin – Stopping smoking has been found to slow facial ageing and delay the appearance of wrinkles.
- Whiter teeth – Giving up tobacco stops teeth becoming stained and means you will have fresher breath.
- Better breathing – Within nine months of giving up smoking, your lung capacity will have improved by up to 10%.
- Longer life – Half of all long-term smokers die early (half of them by middle age) from smoking-related diseases including heart disease, lung cancer and chronic bronchitis. Quitting smoking by the age of 30 will add an average of 10 years to your life. Kicking the habit at the age of 60 will add an average of three years to your life. The message here is ‘it’s never too late to quit’.
- Less stress – That pleasant feeling of having a cigarette and satisfying your craving is only temporary. Nicotine addiction makes smokers stressed from ‘withdrawal’ between cigarettes. Scientific studies have shown that people feel less stressed after they quit smoking.
While the health benefits are many, as anyone who has tried to quit smoking will tell you, it’s much easier said than done. Fortunately there is help available. The NHS provides a free service for people wanting to quit. Research has shown that people who use the NHS Stop Smoking Service are up to four times more likely to succeed in stopping than trying to stop without help.
Warwickshire NHS Stop Smoking Service can help by providing regular support appointments over the first few weeks of quitting, along with a prescription for nicotine replacement therapy (patches, gum, etc). Zyban and Champix are also available on prescription at doctors’ surgeries. Stop Smoking Services are available at doctors’ surgeries, pharmacists and drop in clinics in the county.
To access this service contact Warwickshire Stop Smoking Service – 0800 085 2917 or go to www.smokefreewarwickshire.org or text “LIFE” to 80800.
For general information about stopping smoking contact the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 169 0 169 or go to www.nhs.uk/gosmokefree
As a final thought, even if you just give up for one day on Wednesday 10 March, you will already start to experience improvements to your health. Within 20 minutes of having a cigarette your blood pressure and pulse will have returned to normal and within 24 hours half the nicotine and all the carbon monoxide will have been eliminated from your bloodstream meaning that your lungs will have started to clear out the tar that’s been clogging them up and your sense of taste and smell will have greatly improved.
Also, if you smoke 20 a day, you’ve just saved yourself around £5.80; why not go out and treat yourself!
