SMOKING HELP AND ADVICE
WHY STOP SMOKING?
Stopping smoking is the single most helpful thing you can do to improve
your health and the health of the people around you. Every day 100,000
people around the world stop smoking
As soon as you stop smoking, your health will start to benefit. Within a few days, your blood pressure and heart rate will return to normal, the nicotine will be removed from your body and your breathing will improve. Within as little as 6 months, your risk of heart attack, lung cancer and other smoking related diseases will start to fall. Half of the people who smoke will be killed by their habit - for every person that smokes forty a day and is still going strong at the age of 60, there is another person who died of lung cancer at 50, or had a disabling heart attack at 45
WHY IS IT DIFFICULT TO STOP?
Many smokers make several attempts to stop smoking before they are
successful. Cigarettes and other tobacco products contain nicotine
which is an addictive substance. When you try to stop smoking you
may feel restless and irritable. This is usually due to nicotine
withdrawal and should only last a few weeks
Some people are able to manage by themselves, whilst others need more
help and support during the first few weeks of stopping smoking
WHERE CAN I GET HELP AND SUPPORT?
- Contact our Reception on 01274 24979 about our smoking cessation service
- Our Practice Nurses can give you advice and step-by-step guides on stopping smoking
- You can also visit www.givingupsmoking.co.uk for on-line help and guidance
4,000 REASONS TO STUB IT OUT
Tobacco smoke contains around 4,000 different chemicals. Three of the
main components are:
- Nicotine - a powerful, addictive drug. It increases
the heart rate and blood pressure, and affects mood and behaviour.
Nicotine is also an insecticide
- Tar - many of the substances in tar are known
to cause cancer. It can also damage the lungs
- Carbon monoxide - a gas that takes the place of oxygen in the bloody, making the lungs less efficient and stopping cells and tissues getting the oxygen they need to work properly. Carbon monoxide is the poisonous gas found in car exhaust fumes
Other chemicals in tobacco smoke include:
- Acetone - nail polish remover
- Acetic Acid - vinegar
- Aluminium - metal
- Ammonia - used in toilet cleaner
- Arsenic - rat poison
- Benzene - industrial solvent
- Benzoapyrene - diesel exhaust fume
- Butane - cigarette lighter fluid
- Cadmium - rechargeable batteries
- Copper - electric wiring
- DDT - insecticide
- Dieldrin - insecticide
- Ethanol - used in anti-freeze
- Formaldehyde - preservative for dead bodies, wood,
and fabrics
- Hexamine - barbecue lighter
- Hydrogen cyanide - an industrial pollutant (also
used in America for executions in poison gas chambers)
- Lead - fishing weights
- Magnesium - flares
- Methane - gas created by decomposing rubbish
- Methanol - rocket and car fuel
- Naphthalene - moth balls
- Nitrobenzene - petrol additive
- Nitrous Oxide Phenols - disinfectant
- Polonium 210 - radioactive compound
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) - a cancer-causing
chemical also found in diesel exhaust and other combustion products
- Silicon - computer chips & non-stick frying
pans
- Silver - jewellery
- Stearic Acid - found in candle wax
- Titanium - metal
- Toluene - industrial solvent
- Vinyl Chloride - raw material to make plastic
- Zinc - used to make galvanised steel
Source: Leeds Smoking Services & BBC & NHSDirect
NHS
Direct 0845 46 47 www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk
