Smoking

Steps to Help You Break

the Habit

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 WHAT YOU NEED TO
KNOW

• More than 400,000 deaths in the U.S. each

year are from smoking-related illnesses.

• Smoking kills an estimated 120,000 people

each year in the UK. It is a major cause of
illness and premature death – on average,
persistent smokers die 10 years younger
than non-smokers.

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Tobacco contains over 4,000
chemicals, many of which
are harmful. These include:
• Benzene - solvent used in fuel and chemical
manufacture
• Formaldehyde - highly poisonous, colourless
liquid used to preserve dead bodies
• Ammonia - chemical found in cleaning fluids.
Used in cigarettes to increase the delivery of
nicotine
• Hydrogen cyanide - poisonous gas used in the
manufacture of plastics, dyes, and pesticides.
Often used as a fumigant to kill rats
• Cadmium - extremely poisonous metal found in
batteries
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• Acetone - solvent found in nail polish remover
 The three main
components of inhaled
smoke are :

• Nicotine
• Carbon monoxide
• Tar

all of which can cause

disease.

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 It is absorbed into the bloodstream and effects
the brain within 10 seconds. If you are a
regular smoker, when the blood level of
nicotine falls, you usually develop withdrawal
symptoms such as craving, anxiety,
restlessness, headaches, irritability, hunger,
difficulty with concentration, or just feeling
awful. These symptoms are relieved by the
next cigarette. So, most smokers need to
smoke regularly to feel 'normal', and to prevent
withdrawal symptoms.
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 Carbon monoxide
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas
found in car fumes, which reduces the
amount of oxygen carried in the blood.
Oxygen is vital for the body’s organs to
function efficiently. The reduction in
oxygen changes the consistency of the
blood, making it thicker and putting the
heart under increased strain as it pumps
blood around the body.

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 Tar

Tar contains many substances proven to

cause cancer. Irritants found in tar
damage the lungs causing narrowing of
the tubes (bronchioles) and damaging
the small hairs (cilia) that protect the
lungs from dirt and infection.

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8
Effects of Smoking and
the reasons to Stop

International studies of millions

of people by government,
industry, universities, and private
research institutions have 9
 Cancers
• Lung cancer (About 30,000 people in the UK die
from lung cancer each year. More than 8 in 10
cases are directly related to smoking).
• Mouth, throat and nose cancer
• Cancer of the larynx
• Oesophageal cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Leukaemia

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 Heart and circulatory
diseases
• Heart attacks and Heart disease (is the biggest
killer illness in the UK. About 120,000 people in
the UK die each year from heart disease).
• Arteriosclerosis - build up of fatty deposits in the
blood vessels. Causes loss of elasticity in the
artery walls, which can lead to diseases such as
stroke, gangrene and aortic aneurysms.
• High blood pressure

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 Respiratory disease and
Other illnesses
• Asthma.
• Chronic Polmunary
(About 25,000
people in the UK die each year from this serious lung disease. More
than 8 in 10 of these deaths are directly linked to smoking).
• Increased frequency of colds, particularly chest colds and bronchitis.

• Shortness of breath.
• Headaches.

• Stained teeth, fingers, and hair

• Insomnia.
• Diarrhea and colitis.
• Arthritis.
• Decreased sexual activity
and mental depression.

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• Blood flow to the extremities is decreased (cold hands and
feet).
• Smoking decreases the oxygen supply, requiring a higher
blood pressure, thus causing extensive circulatory problems
and premature heart attacks. Smokers have difficulty running
and exercising.
• Air pollution (auto exhausts, industry wastes, etc.) increases
the lung cancer rate of the smoker, but not of the non-
smoker.
• The time to recover from any specific ill, whether caused by
smoking or not, is much longer for the smoker. Often, a non-
smoker will survive a sickness from which he would have died
had he smoked.
• The smoker's body requires more sleep every night. This
extra sleep must come from his spare time. Besides needing
more sleep, smokers don't sleep as well.
• Smokers are sick more often, Smoking destroys vitamins,
particularly vitamin C and the B's. Lower intelligence has
been related to smoking. In fact, smoking is both a cause and
an effect of lower intelligence, just as smoking is both a
cause and effect of lower income.

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 What are the benefits of
stopping smoking?

The benefits begin straight away. You reduce

your risk of getting serious disease no matter
what age you give up. However, the sooner
you stop, the greater the reduction in your risk

It is never too late to stop smoking to gain

health benefits.

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 Benefits of stopping
smoking include the
following:
– Breathing improves.
– Chest infections and colds become less frequent.
– Reduction in 'smoker's cough'.
– The smell of stale tobacco goes from your breath,
clothes, hair, and face.
– Foods and drinks taste and smell much better.
– Finances improve.
– You are likely to feel good about yourself.

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How can I stop smoking?

About 2 in 3 smokers want to stop

smoking. Some people can give up easily.
Willpower and determination are the
most important aspects when giving up
smoking. However, nicotine is a drug of
addiction and many people find giving up
a struggle.

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 Getting Ready to Quit

• Set a date for quitting. If possible, have a friend quit

smoking with you.
• Notice when and why you smoke. Try to find the things in
your daily life that you often do while smoking (such as
drinking your morning cup of coffee, etc).
• Change your smoking routines: Keep your cigarettes in a
different place. Smoke with your other hand. Don't do
anything else when smoking. Think about how you feel when
you smoke.
• Smoke only in certain places, such as outdoors.
• When you want a cigarette, wait a few minutes. Try to think
of something to do instead of smoking; you might chew gum
or drink a glass of water.
Buy one pack of cigarettes at a time. Switch to a brand of
cigarettes you don't like.
• Just before your stop date, get rid of all of your cigarettes,
matches, lighters and ashtrays.
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 On the Day You Quit

• Get support and encouragement.

• Learn how to handle stress and the urge to smoke. When you get
that urge to smoke (and you will), drink some water. Relax by
taking a hot bath, going for a walk, or breathing slowly and deeply.
Think of changes in your daily routine that will help you resist the
urge to smoke. For example, if you used to smoke when you drank
coffee, drink hot tea instead. Think about how your cigarette
money helps support those hypocritical tobacco companies whose
income is derived at the expense of the health, wealth, happiness,
efficiency, and resources of the addicted smoker.
• Give yourself rewards for stopping smoking. For example, with the
money you save by not smoking, buy yourself something special.
• Get medication and use it correctly. Nicotine replacement products
are ways to take in nicotine without smoking. These products are
like: gum, patch, nasal spray, inhaler and lozenge. Using one of
these roughly doubles your chance of stopping smoking if you
really want to stop.

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Keep trying. Many ex-smokers did
not succeed at first, but they kept
trying.The first few days after
stopping will probably be the
hardest. Show yourself and to the
others who you are. Life's too good
and too short to waste on that filthy 22