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The harms of smoking
Smoking causes chronic health problems, such as:
- Cancer (lung, mouth, kidney, stomach and more)
- Strokes and heart disease
- Breathing problems e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Mouth, stomach, and bowel problems
- Male impotence and fertility issues
- Weak bones
- Ageing skin and bad breath
- Premature death
- Adverse on other people
Benefits of stopping
- Reduction in smoking related diseases, ill health, and death
- Reduction in smoking related diseases in others
- Reduction in harm to children and pregnancies
- Reduction in the risk of children in the family themselves starting to smoke
- Save money
How quickly you may benefit after quitting
- 20 minutes: pulse returns to normal
- 8 hours: blood oxygen levels return to normal, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels halve
- 48 hours: lung start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris. No more nicotine in the body
- 2-12 weeks: circulation improves
- 1 year: risk of heart disease halves compared to smoker
- 10 years: risk of lung cancer half that of a smoker
- 15 years: risk of heart attack same as someone who has never smoked
Advice on how to stop
- Prepare mentally
- Try to stop with someone else, involve friends and family
- Avoid relapses
- Set targets and rewards for completing them
- Try again if relapse
"You are four times more likely to stop smoking with the support of a smoking cessation service and stop smoking medicines than by willpower alone"
Treatment
Using a combination of stop-smoking treatments and support is found to be the most effective way of stopping.