Join Stoptober and Stop Smoking

stoptober

Why Stoptober?

  • Over 160,000 people stopped smoking for 28 days last Stoptober (2012)
  • To date, 141,893 people have joined Stoptober this year (2013)
  • Smokers who give up for 4 weeks are 5 times more likely to give up smoking for good

Why Stop?

  • Those who stop around the age of 30, reduce their risk of premature death by 97%
  • Smoking is the biggest killer in the UK
  • Half of all long-term smokers die from smoke-related disease

Why Stop Now?

  • After 12 hours, heart-rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels return to normal
  • After 24 hours carbon monoxide is removed and lungs start to clear and risk of heart attack decreases
  • After 48 hours nicotine has left your body, nerve-endings start to re-grow and sense of taste and smell improves

Why Continue to Stop?

  • After a year without smoking, your risk for heart disease is lowered to 50% compared to when you were still smoking
  • After 5-15 years of being smoke-free, your risk of having a stroke is the same as someone who doesn’t smoke
  • 10 years after quitting, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas also decreases

Why EVERYONE Should Stop

  • By the age of 15, around 20% of children are active smokers, based on cotinine levels in saliva
  • Approximately 40% of smokers started smoking before the age of 16
  • The risk of lung cancer increases by about 25% in non-smokers exposed to passive smoke

Why the country should stop

  • Treating smoke-related diseases costs the NHS approximately £2.7 billion a year
  • A 20-a-day smoker spends around £2,000 a year on smoking
  • Reduced smoking in the UK has a net benefit of £1.7 billion a year

Convinced yet? Join Stoptober and give up smoking this October.

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Posted on by Dr Tony Steele in Stop smoking.