Let your successful resolution this New Years Eve be giving up the fags

Now that the festive season’s almost over, more and more people are turning their attention to their health. If you are a smoker, there’s one thing you can do that will make a huge difference to your wellbeing.  Give up.  Giving up smoking will not only dramatically improve your health, but could save you so much money; you will not even notice that those Christmas bells have stopped jingling!  

We know that stopping smoking is not as simple as it sounds, so NHS Wandsworth runs a series of drop-in clinics across the borough designed to help you quit, whilst keeping you motivated. As well as offering quitters regular support and information, stop smoking advisors can help them find the right nicotine replacement products which will make giving up easier. Research also shows smokers are four times more likely to stop smoking for good, when they use their local stop smoking service.

Velena Gilfillian, Deputy Director of Public Health, said:
“More than one hundred thousand people in the UK die from smoking related diseases annually. However, the good news is that as soon as you stop smoking, you and your family will begin to notice results almost immediately. The advantages are not only financial, but physical as well. Within 20 minutes, the blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal and after 48 hours all nicotine has left the body. Ex-smokers who make it to the five year mark will have halved their risk of having a heart attack and after 10 years, the risk of lung cancer is significantly reduced.

“During this time the average 20 a day smoker will have saved over £22,000. Given all these benefits, there’s really no reason not to give up. Last year, NHS Wandsworth helped more than 1,200 people quit smoking. This year, we want to increase that figure and get as many residents as possible to stop smoking for good.” 

December 29, 2010