Stop Smoking

In order to make a decision to stop smoking it is necessary to consider the health risks of smoking, and the benefits and disadvantages of stopping. Once a decision to stop has been made, a plan of action is necessary. This leaflet outlines some of the factors to be considered, and gives hints as to how to go about giving up.

If you would like further advice or help on giving up smoking, please make an appointment to see our Smoking Cessation Adviser

The health risks

Some of the most important risks are:

• Lung cancer is almost entirely a disease of smokers, and even in non- smokers some of the cases are due to passive smoking.
• Other cancers. Most cases of cancer of the larynx, mouth and oesophagus are due to smoking. Smoking is also associated with cancer of the pancreas, bladder, stomach and cervix.
• Chronic bronchitis. Smoking is the main cause of obstructive airways disease.
• Coronary heart disease. Overall there is two to three fold risk of death from coronary heart disease and heart attack in smokers compared with non-smokers. In the 45 - 54 age group the risk for heavy smokers (40+ per day) is ten fold.
• Stroke. The risk of stroke is doubled in smokers. (For women smokers who also use oral contraception the risk is 20 fold.)
• Duodenal ulcer. Smoking is an important contributory factor in the development of duodenal ulcer.
• Increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and low birthweight babies in women who smoke during pregnancy. Women smokers have two thirds the conception rate of non-smokers.
• Chest disease and glue ear in the children of smokers exposed to tobacco smoke. 25% of the risk of cot death is due to smoking.

The benefits of giving up

Health risks improve - the increased tendency in smokers of the blood to clot is reduced within two weeks of stopping and blood lipids return to normal in a month. Five years after stopping the risk of stroke returns to the levels of those who have never smoked, while in 15 - 20 years the same is true for the risks of death from coronary heart disease.

Within a week or two of stopping you can expect to breathe more freely.

Taste and smell are improved.

You will lose the smell of stale tobacco from your breath and clothes.

You will save money which can be spent on other things.

You will be less antisocial. Smokers are now in the minority and many non-smokers resent having to breathe in other people's tobacco smoke. As the risks of passive smoking become better understood, it is likely that the number of firms who ban smoking at work will increase, and smoking will be discouraged in more public places.

The disadvantages of giving up

The loss of the pleasures of smoking, including, for some smokers, the help they feel it gives them to relax or concentrate.

Having to face a phase of withdrawal with a craving for cigarettes and possibly physical symptoms such as hunger, coughing (as the respiratory tract is cleared), bowel upsets, sleep disturbance and dizziness. (Although all these pass in 2-3 weeks)

Possibility of weight gain. (This is related to increased hunger and to eating as an alternative to smoking)

Stopping smoking

Be sure that you really want to stop and clear as to the reasons why.

Prepare to stop smoking. Identify times when smoking most often occurs and plan avoidance or coping strategies. Try to give up with a friend for mutual support and encouragement.

Set a day on which to stop. Choose a suitable time when you are least likely to be under stress. Perhaps plan a special activity for that day with a reward for not having smoked. On the night before, having smoked a last cigarette, throw away all smoking related materials to reduce temptation.

Staying a non-smoker

Avoid situations that prompt smoking.

Divert the urge to smoke into another activity.

Take one day at a time. Do not be discouraged by smoking just one cigarette - there is no need to smoke another.

Reward yourself - each day put aside the money that you would have spent on cigarettes and save it to buy some special luxury.