Smoking – kick the habit for good!

If you’ve ever thought about giving up smoking, then National No Smoking Day could be just the motivation you need!

Held this week National No Smoking Day is designed to raise awareness about smoking and the impact it can have on health.

According to the NHS, the average smoker smokes around 13 cigarettes a day, which adds up to 364 cigarettes every month… that’s a hefty impact on your health and your wallet!

The effects of smoking

We all know that smoking is bad but did you know there are so many ways it can negatively affect your health? When we think of smoking, most of us assume that it only affects the lungs, causing problems such as a smoker’s cough, asthma, emphysema, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer.

However, smoking can also cause problems with the heart and blood circulation, it can lead to stomach ulcers and stomach cancer, it increases the risk of a stroke, can make bones weak and brittle, it can affect fertility, and it can also cause problems within the mouth, too.

From aesthetic problems like tooth staining and issues with bad breath, to gum disease and an increased risk of head and neck cancer, here at Mouth Matters we always strongly advise our patients who smoke to give some serious thought to quitting. According to www.nhs.uk/smokefree: ‘More than 93% of oropharyngeal cancers (cancer in part of the throat) are caused by smoking,’ doesn’t that make you want to ditch cigarettes for good?

Get help to quit

Quitting a habit like smoking isn’t easy but it can be done with the right type of support. NHS Smokefree is a great resource for this as it outlines the different types of support available and provides the right resources to help you on your journey towards becoming smokefree. Check out the website here: www.nhs.uk/smokefree.

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