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Some more scary facts about smoking

Let’s start with the harsh facts about the harmful effects of smoking:

• Nicotine's natural use is to prevent the tobacco plant being eaten by insects, so it is, in effect, an insecticide.
• Drop for drop nicotine is more lethal than strychnine or diamond back rattlesnake venom.
• Nicotine is three times more toxic than arsenic.
• Between 30 to 60 milligrams of nicotine would be a fatal dose for most adults.
• Each time we smoke a cigarette we ingest over 4,000 compounds many of which are toxic.
• Tobacco smoke has been found to contain 43 known carcinogens, substances directly linked with causing cancer.
• Cigarette smoke also contains carbon monoxide, the same stuff found in car exhausts which will kill you, even in moderate quantities.
• Smoking costs the HNS over £5,000,000,000 (5 billion pounds) per year and causes thousands of premature deaths.
• Cigarette smoking is the greatest single cause of illness and premature death in the UK, with more than 8 out of 10 deaths from lung cancer being attributed to smoking.
• On average 8 out of 10 non smokers live past the age of 70, but with smokers that figure drops to 50%. Doctors now believe that smoking will knock off around 10 years from your life expectancy.

The financial cost of smoking

Whilst we are all well aware of the implications smoking has on our health many of us fail to consider the impact smoking can have on our finances. Consider the amount of money you could save if you managed to quit.

Presently, a packet of 20 cigarettes costs, on average, £5.80. If you smoke 20 per day:

• In one week you spend £40.60
• In an average month £162.40
• In six months £974.40
• Over one year £1948.80
• Over 2 years, £3897.60
• Over 3 years, £5846.20
• Over 5 years, £ 9,744.00
• Over 10 years £19,488.00

Timeline - chart the benefits of quitting

Stopping smoking has an immediate effect on your health. To track the progress and benefits of stopping smoking, go to this section of the NHS "SmokeFree" website.

Here is a quick break down of the impact quitting can have on your health just 20 minutes after your last cigarette:

• 20 minutes after your last cigarette. Your blood pressure and heart rate will return to their normal levels, reducing your risk of having a heart attack. Your circulation will also improve, and the temperature in your hands and feet will return to normal, helping to deliver fresh blood to your fingers and toes.
• 8 hours after your last cigarette. Your oxygen levels will have risen and returned to normal. The nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in your blood will have fallen by over 50%.
• 24 hours after your last cigarette. All Carbon monoxide will have gone from your body, and your lungs will have started recover from the effects of smoking. Your risk of a heart attack has continued to fall.
• 48 hours after your last cigarette. All the nicotine will now have left your system and as a result you may notice that you can taste and smell things you couldn't before. You may also notice a change to your complexion and skin condition. (Don't worry if these haven't happened by Day 2, they soon will.)
• Three days after your last cigarette. Energy levels increase and breathing becomes easier. You are already £15 better off, so if you are starting to suffer a pang or two of withdrawal, treat yourself with that money and get the CD you wanted last Christmas that no one bought for you.
• 2 weeks to 3 months after your last cigarette. This is when most ex-smokers (you are an ex-smoker now by the way) find the withdrawal pangs set in and the urge to light up increases. Don't be tempted, it will only take one to put you back to being a smoker again. On the positive side, after this amount of time off the weed, you will find you have more energy and walking won't make you puff. Your lung function will have started to increase, possibly by up to a massive 30%. You should definitely see an improvement in your skin, hair and complexion. Your circulatory system is continuing to improve every day and while the withdrawal may be unpleasant, you should feel better and healthier. You will also smell better and not have that smell of stale cigarette smoke on your clothes or fingers.
• 3 to 9 months after your last cigarette. Lung function and energy levels continue to increase. Lung regeneration continues.
• After 9 months you will have saved £1260. This is the point in the quitting process when a lot of ex-smokers find their appetite has returned to a higher level than it was when they smoked. Smoking can suppress the appetite and that, together with you now improved energy levels might mean you are eating more. This isn't a major setback. Weight levels tend to increase in ex-smokers, on average, according to the anti-smoking campaigners at ASH by half a stone. This is only temporary and your weight will level out in time. Any medical professional will tell you that the health benefits of stopping smoking far outweigh the minor problems associated with a small weight gain, so stick with it.
• 1 year after your last cigarette. A major milestone reached. You have now cut your risk of heart disease by 50% to what it was when you smoked. You are £1860 better off.
• 5 years after your last cigarette. You should, quite rightly be feeling proud of yourself. Your risk of lung, throat and mouth cancer has dropped by half. You risk of having a stroke has also dropped considerably, in fact to the level of a person who has never smoked.
• 10 years after your last cigarette and beyond. After ten years your body is still repairing the damage smoking did to you. Precancerous cells are replaced with healthy new ones and your risk of lung cancer is exactly the same as someone who never smoked. Your risk of other type of cancer is now greatly reduced. After 15 years your risk of coronary heart disease is also the same as someone who never smoked.

Serious about Quitting?

Cold Turkey! - Some people, fuelled by their own will power are able to stop themselves smoking simply by throwing away their last packet of cigarettes. However, most of us however require a little help, which is nothing to be ashamed of!

Patches, Gum and Lozenges - These work if your desire to smoke is nicotine based as they contain the drug in small amounts, the patches release it in a gradual measured dose throughout the day or throughout a 24 hour period, and you can start on a patch specifically designed for the number of cigarettes you used to smoke. The idea is that you stop smoking and therefore reduce the intake of harmful stuff that is in a cigarette and then gradually wean yourself off the nicotine by reducing the strength of the patches. These are available over the counter at chemists and from the medicines aisle in most supermarkets.

Self Help Groups - Many smokers say that keeping the willpower, especially over the worst of withdrawal (if it happens, not everyone suffers) is the hardest part, so group sessions can be really helpful to keep the positive momentum going. Many Doctor's surgeries either run stop smoking classes or will be able to tell you where the nearest one is held.

Hypnosis - the idea is that you visit a trained hypnotherapist who puts you into a restful state and helps to you to gain the positive mental attitude to quit. Many practitioners offer repeat treatments. You will find hypnotherapist either on the internet or in the local paper classified columns.

Imitation Cigarettes - These are small devices that resemble a normal cigarette. When you draw in air it is mixed with atomised liquid nicotine or a similar form of the drug moth occupied like cigarettes used to. They can be used safely in public as they pose no harm to others close to you.

Breaking the mental habit - If you have fallen into a habit with cigarettes and usually smoke one with your morning coffee, or while reading a book at lunch time, try to vary your normal routines to eliminate the mental link with that activity and smoking. Go for a walk instead or change to tea till you have kicked the habit. Once the mental association is stopped, the rest follows quite naturally.

Useful Links

For more information and help on quitting try:

• Your local health centre, Doctor or pharmacist.
• The BBC and NHS websites both have sections on quitting.
• Quit with Help
• Quit
• Quit Smoking Stop