Effects of Smoking

This year, No Smoking Day is on Wednesday 13 March.

Smoking increases the risk of developing more than 50 serious health conditions, including cancer and heart disease, and doubles the risk of dying from a stroke. Of the 6.1 million smokers in England, six in 10 want to quit but many try to quit using willpower alone – or going ‘cold turkey’ – despite this being the least effective method.

The most successful quit attempts use a combination of effective stop smoking support methods. Recent research suggests that smokers who quit with the help of an e-cigarette are less likely to start smoking again.

Sara Bedford, Leader of the council, said: “Smoking is an addiction that is very detrimental to your health. Please try and quit. Hard as it may initially seem, you will get many benefits from giving up including lowering your chance of getting lung cancer, heart disease, or other conditions.”

Dr Lion Shahab, leading smoking cessation academic from University College London, said: “The false belief that vaping is as harmful as smoking could be preventing thousands of smokers from switching to e-cigarettes to help them quit. I hope people see the huge damage caused by smoking that could be avoided by switching to an e-cigarette. Research we and others have conducted shows that vaping is much less harmful than smoking and that using e-cigarettes on a long-term basis is relatively safe, similar to using licensed nicotine products, like nicotine patches or gum. Using e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement such as patches or gum will boost your chances of quitting successfully.”

Public Health England’s Personal Quit Plan is a quick, free and easy-to-use digital tool to help smokers find the right support to help them quit, taking into account how much they smoke and any quitting support used previously.

Visit:  https://www.nhs.uk/smokefree  or  https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/services/Health-in-Herts/Smoking/Stop-Smoking-Service.aspx  to find ways to quit smoking.