Stop Smoking

According to the Office for National Statistics, around 25% of men smoke in the UK and 23 % of women. According to the same survey, 68% of smokers want to quit smoking but the vast majority could not persevere for a single day without a cigarette.

How Does Smoking Affect Your Health?

Smoking is a risk factor for many health problems, some of which are life-threatening. In fact, according to figures from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), 120,000 people in the UK die each year as a result of smoking.

Key Points about Smoking

• Smoking accounts for 120,000 deaths each year in the UK alone.
• It is the biggest risk factor for cancer. It is linked to many kinds of cancer and is the cause of nine out of 10 cases of lung cancer.
• Smokers are twice as likely as non-smokers to have a heart attack and one in four strokes in the UK are caused by smoking.
• Passive smoking exposes non-smokers to a higher risk of lung cancer and heart disease.

Cancer Risks

Smoking is a risk factor for a number of forms of cancer, causing one-third of all cancer deaths. Smoking is the biggest avoidable risk factor for cancer. It's the cause of nine out of 10 cases of lung cancer, and a risk factor for cancers of the throat, mouth, oesophagus, stomach, kidney, bladder and cervix. Smoking is also linked to some types of leukaemia.

In the case of lung cancer, the risk is directly related to the number of cigarettes smoked - so people who smoke a lot of cigarettes have a higher risk. The risk is also dependent upon how long someone has smoked for.

The main reason for the cancer risk lies in the tar in cigarettes, but there are also numerous other harmful chemicals included. These include benzene, cadmium and formaldehyde, which are also carcinogenic. Even low-tar, light or mild cigarettes pose just as much risk and it is a fallacy to claim that these brands are “healthier” than normal cigarettes.

The cancer risks are reduced once smoking is stopped, regardless of age. Smokers who quit have their risk of lung cancer cut in half after 10 years and the longer you remain an ex-smoker, the more you reduce your risk. In fact, smokers who stop before they are 35 years old will have a life expectancy similar to non-smokers.

Heart Risks

Each time you have a cigarette, chemicals are released into your body that make your blood vessels sticky. In turn, this causes fatty deposits (atheroma) to collect in the arteries, leading to a condition called atherosclerosis. If too many fatty deposits build up, it can cause the lining of the artery to rupture and lead to the development of a clot.

Smokers are twice as likely as non-smokers to have a heart attack. They have a much higher risk than non-smokers of developing atherosclerosis. This can lead to angina or a sudden heart attack. The good news is that five years after you give up smoking, the risk is cut by nearly 50 per cent and after 10 years of stopping the risk falls to the same level as someone who's never smoked at all.

Stroke Risks

Strokes are the largest single cause of disability in the UK and more than 300,000 people are affected. In England and Wales alone, a quarter of all strokes are directly caused by the act of smoking.

The reason for the link between smoking and strokes is because smoking causes narrowing and furring of the arteries as discussed above and this makes the blood more likely to clot, both of which are risk factors for stroke. It also increases blood pressure, which is another major stroke risk factor. A smoker with high blood pressure is 20 times more likely to suffer a stroke than a non smoker with normal blood pressure.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, otherwise known as COPD, is an umbrella term used to describe a number of conditions, such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema, all of which make it very difficult to breathe. COPD damages the airways in the lungs, making them narrower and therefore harder for air to get in and out.

The most common cause of COPD is smoking and its effects can be severe. Although there are treatments available to ease the symptoms, there is no cure for COPD. The best prevention is to not smoke or to stop if you do.

Once you stop smoking, the probability of getting COPD is gradually reduced or, if you already have it, its progression is slowed by quitting.

Passive Smoking

Apart from harming your own health, smoking can have detrimental effects on other people's health, too. Research has shown tobacco smoke can cause immediate effects on others, such as coughing, headaches, eye irritation and nausea, as well as increase the risk of smoking-related diseases, such as lung cancer and heart disease.

Young children exposed to smoke at home have a higher risk of lower respiratory tract infections and it can increase the severity of asthma in all children.

Babies and even unborn foetuses can be affected by smoke. According to the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths, smoking during pregnancy and in the same room as a young baby can increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS.)

Summary

Although smoking is extremely harmful to smokers and those around them, the good news is that giving up will help to reduce and eventually remove many of these risks. The Online Clinic is happy to provide free online consultations to smokers wishing to quit. There are a number of treatments available to help people give up smoking and we will offer to prescribe the safest and, in our view, most successful treatment. Please click on the free consultation icon to begin your consultation.

Please click here for more information on Champix