There are over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke – including Nicotine (the addictive part), Tar (the main carcinogen), Carbon Monoxide (reduces oxygen levels in the blood – therefore energy levels and puts an extra strain on the heart, also especially dangerous in pregnancy) and many many other carcinogenic chemicals like cyanide, benzenes, formaldehyde and arsenic.
There is a know causative link between smoking, even second-hand or passive, and early death from diseases like cancer and heart disease. Other diseases caused by smoking include respiratory diseases, ulcers in the digestive system, increased blood pressure, stroke, impotence in males, blindness, skin damage and cancers of the mouth and throat. Smoking during pregnancy can lead to a low-weight/small baby, childhood respiratory conditions like asthma, and miscarriage.
Tobacco is the only drug that we take that has no beneficial effects, only bad effects. The only product that KILLS when used NORMALLY as intended. Half of regular smokers will eventually be killed by their addiction.
In the UK smoking is the single most preventable cause of illness and premature death. There are 120,000 deaths a year – 300 every day – directly caused by smoking, with an average of 16 years of life lost. Exposure to second-hand smoke at work causes about 617 premature deaths a year.
Stopping smoking before the age of 45 means a life expectancy only slightly less than a non-smoker, and quitting at any age has many benefits – both short and long term. After this age every year of continued smoking reduces your life expectancy by three months. Smoking also affects the health of people around you – your family, friends and strangers – who breathe in the secondhand smoke – exposing them to the same diseases as smokers including cancer and heart disease.
Giving up smoking, you may go through stages 1 to 5 many times in your attempts to quit, and this is helpful as each attempt is a step to one day reaching stage 6. In fact few people achieve stages 1 to 6 in one attempt. Having been to stage 4 is helpful in future attempts to give up smoking as you then know what to expect from your body as you cut out your addiction to nicotine, and your lungs recover from the inhalation of smoke and other chemicals.
Smoking is both a physical addiction (Nicotine) and psychological addiction (relaxing, socialising and habitual). Nicotine replacement can help with the first, we give you some ideas to deal with the second, together the two can give you an 80% chance of giving up.
We provide a free counseling service
If you do not pay for prescriptions then you may be entitled to free NRT products. Book an appointment to find out more.
A special ‘Quitters Plan’ will be designed. The importance of such a tailor made approach is that quitting is more a lifestyle than a merely giving up the habit. History, contributing factors and past quit attempts all have to be taken into account.
The ‘Smokerlyser’ will be used to obtain a carbon monoxide (CO) reading. This is a high precision apparatus that accurately determines the CO load on the cardiovascular system, and hence is very useful in physically demonstrating the damage smoking is doing, CO stops Oxygen binding to the red blood cells therefore making less oxygen available to the organs, and increase the stickiness of the blood leading to clot formation. Up to 15% of your blood cells can be bound CO. The ‘Smokerlyser’ is also a useful self motivating tool as CO levels rapidly drop upon quitting – after 24 hours.
All Quit Plans will include a ‘Quit Date’. This is vitally important as any quit attempts has to be at a time when there is relatively little stress. Also prior preparation for life as a non smoker has to be carried out.
The benefit of quitting at any stage of life are immense. Quitting will always enhance your quality of life.
After…
Finally, if you are ready to quit we want to hear from you!
Nicotine is the addictive component in cigarettes but does not cause cancer (it is as harmful as caffeine), it is the other components in cigarettes that cause the problems. Because Nicotine is addictive it is one of the things (the other being behavioural) you miss when you quit smoking, so using a NRT product is a good way to wean your body off nicotine without doing any further harm.
Giving up smoking as soon as possible (ideally before conception) is very important for the health of the baby. Ideally you should try to give up “cold turkey” without NRT, but if you can’t then use NRT as the benefits of giving up with NRT far outweighs the risks of continuing to smoke. Ideally intermittent forms of NRT are preferable like lozenges or gum, but patches can be used if you feel nauseous or sick.
While in hospital after a heart attack, stroke or irregular heartbeat then you will be encouraged to quit without NRT, however once discharged and well you can use NRT to quit if willpower alone is not enough.
Have you thought how much smoking costs you (besides quality years off your life) …
If you smoke a pack a day (20 cigarettes) that’s  £5.00 per day …  £35.00 per week …  £150 per month …  £1800 per year !!!
and if you smoke more … you save more when you quit !
New advice now recommends a combination dual therapy if a single NRT product has failed, eg try a patch for background nicotine levels, supplemented with a gum when needed to counteract breakthrough cravings
Start cutting down to at least 50% of current levels, aiming for a complete stop at 6 months or at the most 9 months. Then gradually reduce your NRT over the 3 months after stopping smoking. The whole process takes up to 12 months.
Ear wax removal process is now offered at Jubilee Pharmacy by our qualified healthcare professionals. Jubilee Pharmacy uses the safest method of ear wax removal, Micro-suction to remove any ear wax that could be causing pain or hearing issues. Speak to one of our friendly staff members today to find out more: 0121 502 5138.