Smokers in Runnymede are being urged to give quitting a go ahead of No Smoking Day which is on 13 March 2024.
The annual awareness day encourages smokers to make a quit attempt.
Help for smokers
It is never too late to quit. From the moment you quit your body starts to repair itself.
Why quit?
- Reduce your risk of diseases caused by smoking such as cancer, diabetes, heart attack, emphysema, bronchitis and stroke. Quitting will improve your health, and reduce pressure on the NHS.
- Stopping smoking allows your body to repair itself – after 8 hours oxygen levels return to normal, after 2 days, your lungs start clearing out smoking debris, after 3 days breathing becomes easier and within weeks, your heart attack risk begins to drop.
- Protect the health of others. Exposure to secondhand smoke also increases the risk of complications from respiratory infections, especially in children. It also increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
Help to stop smoking
Here are ways you can get support to quit
Stop smoking services - support from friendly trained professionals can triple your chances of successfully stopping smoking.
Medications - using other sources of nicotine and stop smoking medicines can double your chances of successfully stopping smoking.
NHS remote support - good online advice from NHS Smokefree and the free Smokefree app can also help improve your chances of successfully stopping smoking.
Protect others
If you do not feel you can stop smoking right now, there are steps you can take to protect others.
Take your smoke outside. Experts advise that you take at least seven steps from your home to prevent smoke from drifting back into the house. Please be mindful of others and, as far as possible, stay away from other people’s open windows, doorways, balconies etc. People are anxious about being exposed to tobacco smoke and your smoke drifting into their home could be upsetting.
Use other sources of nicotine. To reduce the amount you smoke, use nicotine replacement therapy or vaping products. There are many different kinds of nicotine products out there. People often find it helpful to combine a slower acting nicotine product (such as a patch) with a faster acting product (like the nasal spray or gum). You can ask a pharmacist for advice. Ask about Varenicline (Champix) too.
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