National No Smoking Day

The 13th March 2019 marks an extremely significant day in the calendars of smokers across the country.

As National Stop Smoking Day, March 13th provides an opportunity for smokers in the UK to take the first step towards a smoke-free lifestyle, armed with vital knowledge and reliable methods to help them get off to the best start possible.

Public Health England is arguably one of the most important sources during this tricky, testing time. Their website is rich with information not just regarding successful stopping methods to stop smoking, but also on the scale of the problem, the implications of smoking on public health and the financial impact on our country’s economy.

Public Health England states that:

“Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in England, with about half of all life-long smokers dying prematurely, losing on average around 10 years of life. In 2016 alone, there were around 78,000 deaths attributable to smoking, representing 16% of all deaths across the UK.”

Although this is a terrifying figure to contemplate, it should also be noted that these figures saw a significant decline when the practise of vaping and e-cigarette use began to really take off in the UK.

Although we can’t say for sure that vaping is single-handedly responsible for the decline in smoking rates, it is interesting to note that the adult smoking rate in England continues to experience a steady decline year on year and is now at an all-time low. In 2017, 14.9% of people in England aged 18 years and above were self-certified smokers, accounting for around 6.1 million people in total. If this decline in smoking rates continues, by 2023 the nation’s smoking rates are predicted to fall between 8.5 and 11.7%.

Public Health England also sheds light on some of the common misconceptions of tobacco believed by many smokers, the most glaring of which being that many consider the presence of nicotine to be the most harmful element in traditional tobacco:

“While nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, it is relatively harmless. In fact, almost all of the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic.”

Because vaping is free from all of the harmful chemicals found in tobacco but still delivers nicotine to the blood stream with speed and long-lasting effect, it is an ideal way for smokers to kick their habit for a less harmful alternative whilst also replacing the oral and hand activity experienced when smoking a cigarette.

Public Health England also suggests that:

“Nicotine replacement therapy is a safe form of treatment and licensed for use for people with cardiovascular disease”

This is because although nicotine increases heart rate and blood pressure, it is not a carcinogen. The most damaging harm to the body comes from the tar, carbon monoxide and various other toxins present in tobacco rather than from the nicotine itself.

This collection of potentially lethal chemicals and toxins can have detrimental effects on the body, affecting far more than just lung and heart health.

The risks of male and female fertility issues, bone degradation, rapid skin aging, strokes and mouth and throat cancer (to name a few) are all vastly increased with habitual smoking and tobacco use has led to an estimated 484,700 hospital admissions and 77,900 deaths in the UK during 2016/2017 alone.

But it’s not just the health of smokers which is affected by tobacco consumption. PHE reveals that:

“smokers see their GP 35% more than non-smokers, and these costs add a great burden to a system already dealing with growing demand.”

This strain is felt further still by the £760 million cost to domiciliary care services across the country to care for those with smoking-related health conditions.

Stopping Smoking: What are the Options?

Although there are many ways to stop smoking, Public Health England has ranked what they deem to be the most reliable stopping methods in order of success rates, with local stop-smoking services appearing to offer the best chance of success via a combination of behavioural and pharmaceutical support.

The second most successful method of stopping is identified as using a stop-smoking medicine prescribed by a health professional and the third is with the help of nicotine replacement therapy such as gum, patches or e-cigarettes. stopping cold turkey is believed to be the least successful method, with less than four individuals in a hundred staving off their habit for good with willpower alone.

Public Health England states:

“There is growing evidence that e-cigarettes are helping many thousands of smokers in England to stop”

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“E-cigarettes are particularly effective when combined with expert help from a local stop smoking service and in 2017 – 2018 around two-thirds of smokers who got this support stopped smoking successfully.”

Although these figures speak for themselves and give undeniable hope to those looking for a successful cessation method, the sad reality is that a paltry 4% of those using stop-smoking services are also using an e-cigarette as part of their attempts to kick the habit. It is clear that greater efforts should be made to combine face-to-face support with the use of e-cigarettes in order to give people the best possible chance of stopping successfully and join the 1.2 million individuals who have stop smoking with the help of vaping.

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