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would you like to be free of the burden of smoking?
it's never too late to stop!
people do stop smoking - approximately 12 million adults are ex-smokers

Out of every thousand people who start smoking when they are teenagers and continue to smoke 20 a day, one will be murdered, six will die in road accidents and about 250 will be killed before their time by smoking.


Cigrette smoking is addictive, most who smoke don't know about this fact from the start

The reasons people give for smoking cigarettes are numerous, as are the reasons for taking it up in the first place: smoking is one of those habits that you might have started when you were much younger and it was very much a part of the social scene. Or that since coming to University you've felt that its helped you relax, to concentrate, to feel a part of what others appear to be doing.

But cigarette smokers are fast finding themselves being encouraged to give up and not only by the health professionals but by those who don't want to suffer the detrimental effects of passive smoking. Why? because 120,000 deaths per year in the U.K. are caused by smoking.

So what is in cigarette smoke that causes so much damage? Tobacco smoke actually contains over 4,000 chemicals many of which are harmful, including tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine. It's the tar and carbon monoxide which are the primary causes of smoking related diseases. The nicotine is the drug that causes the addiction, reaching your brain 7 seconds after inhaling your cigarette and is responsible for the craving which makes it seem so difficult to stop.

However, take heart! 12 million people in Britain have stopped smoking and stayed stopped. We at the medical centre are committed to help anyone who has decided to be free of smoking to try and stop. So do come and ask for our support and help yourself to be free of the decision of whether to have that cigarette or not.

how to stop smoking

It's important that you stop smoking because you want to. If your reasons for quitting outweigh you reasons for continuing to smoke then you are ready to quit.

So plan to stop - Choose the right time for you - National "no smoking day" is renowned for being a focus for stopping smoking and many people successfully give up on this day every year, it is the second Wednesday of March. However, we can support you whenever you choose to try.


Filter of used cigrettes

The benefits are immediate - start by listing your reasons for stopping: these could include:

  • Saving money: smoking 20 cigarettes a day for a year costs the equivalent of a round the world air ticket and back.
  • Fresher smelling breath, hair and clothes.
  • Breathing more easily.
  • Helping to reduce pollution.
  • Feeling good about yourself for having stopped.
  • Less chance of getting lung cancer. After 10 to 15 years of not smoking again an ex smokers risk is only slightly greater than that of someone who has never smoked.
  • Feeling fitter
  • No more morning cough.
  • More control over your life.
  • Less likely to have a heart attack. After 10 to 15 years of not smoking again the relative risk of a heart attack is reduced almost to the level of a non smoker.
  • Remind yourself that you haven't failed until you stop trying.

Having chosen your quit day, identify times in the day when you always smoke and stock up on ideas to distract your cravings in advance: these could include sugar free chewing gum, fresh fruit or fruit juice - Vitamin C helps the body to get rid of nicotine more quickly. So if you always have a cigarette with your morning tea/coffee stock up on fruit so that your hands are peeling an orange or Kiwi and the Vitamin C is working for you at the same time. Low nicotine levels first thing in the morning are the reason that 52% of smokers light up first thing in the morning.

One person stocked up on "kojak" lollies and when he felt vulnerable sucked a lolly and then chewed the stick. This helped him over the first three weeks and he now no longer needs the lollies because the cravings have dwindled. Bear in mind that craving increases in intensity for up to 3 minutes or so and then subsidies. These simple distractions need only occupy the danger times.