Stoptober
Making October smokefree
Stoptober is a great opportunity for smokers to quit together alongside friends, family and thousands of other people. It helps smokers to quit using a range of free resources, advice and an element of great British humour.
Evidence shows that if a smoker can go 28 days without a cigarette, they are 5 times more likely to stay permanently smoke free. Quitting smoking can be a difficult process but successfully quitting has significant health, financial and social benefits.
Smokers will get a range of free tools including a new stop smoking pack, a 28 day mobile phone app, text support with daily updates, quitting advice and tips for coping, as well as the encouragement and support from thousands of people quitting together through social media channels.
Top British comedians including the North West’s Paddy McGuiness will also bring a touch of humour to help quitters through the challenge.
Quitting is the single best thing you can do for your health!
People who smoke are more likely to have gum disease. Smoking may change the type of bacteria in dental plaque, increasing the number of bacteria that are more harmful. It also reduces the blood flow in the gums and supporting tissues of the tooth and makes them more likely to become inflamed. Smokers’ gum disease will get worse more quickly than in people who do not smoke. Because of the reduced blood flow smokers may not get the warning symptoms of bleeding gums as much as non-smokers. Gum Disease is still the most common cause of tooth loss in adults.
One of the effects of smoking is staining on the teeth due to the nicotine and tar in tobacco. It can make the teeth yellow in a very short time, and heavy smokers often complain that their teeth are almost brown after years of smoking.
Most people know that smoking can cause lung and throat cancer, but many people still don’t realise that it is one of the main causes of mouth cancer too. There are more and more new cases of mouth cancer each year, and thousands die every year from the disease.
Over 570,000 people have died in England in the last 8 years from a smoking related condition – that is 195 people each day but successfully quitting has significant health benefits straight away
Did you know….
…within 20 minutes your blood pressure and pulse rate returuns to normal
…after 1 year the risk of dying from heart disease is reduced by half
…within 2 years the risk of stroke is reduced to half and within 5 years it will be the same as a none smoker
…within 10 years your risk of developing lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker
…after stopping for 15 years your risk of heart disease is similar to that of someone who has never smoked
For more information and to sign up visit smokefree.nhs.uk/stoptober or call 01942 481712 to speak to the your local stop smoking service.
Follow them on twitter @stoptober
Last updated on 29 September 2014.
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