Nhs what is smoking

Read more here. Going it alone with self-help from an app or a website can work for some. The Smokefree App is available to download for free and is most popular. Many people use electronic cigarettes also known as e-cigs and vapes to stop smoking.

If you are thinking about stopping smoking using an e-cig, our HMQ Advisors can give you the right advice. Read more here here. You can request to be called back by providing your contact details and the Team will contact you at a convenient time. You can also search for Services in your area , to find an HMQ service nearest to you.

They will provide you with friendly, confidential and non-judgemental support and advice. They can see you face to face or over the phone. Support can be either one to one or in a meeting with other smokers weekly over 6 or more weeks. Each week will be tailored and focused on monitoring your progress.

Your stop smoking expert will also discuss your options around stop smoking medications and how to access for free. What are the health risks of smoking? Smoking is one of the biggest causes of death and illness in the UK. Smoking increases your risk of developing more than 50 serious health conditions. Some may be fatal, and others can cause irreversible long-term damage to your health.

It also causes cancer in many other parts of the body, including the: mouth throat voice box larynx oesophagus the tube between your mouth and stomach bladder bowel cervix kidney liver stomach pancreas Smoking damages your heart and your blood circulation, increasing your risk of developing conditions such as: coronary heart disease heart attack stroke peripheral vascular disease damaged blood vessels cerebrovascular disease damaged arteries that supply blood to your brain Smoking also damages your lungs, leading to conditions such as: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD , which incorporates bronchitis and emphysema pneumonia Smoking can also worsen or prolong the symptoms of respiratory conditions such as asthma , or respiratory tract infections such as the common cold.

It can also reduce the fertility of both men and women. Health risks of passive smoking Secondhand smoke comes from the tip of a lit cigarette and the smoke that the smoker breathes out. Babies and children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of secondhand smoke.

Health risks of smoking during pregnancy If you smoke when you're pregnant, you put your unborn baby's health at risk, as well as your own. Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of complications such as: miscarriage premature early birth a low birth weight baby stillbirth Read more about stopping smoking in pregnancy. Typical symptoms of COPD include: increasing breathlessness when active, a persistent cough with phlegm and frequent chest infections.

You can slow down the progression of the disease and stopping smoking is the most effective way to do this. Smoking causes unattractive problems such as bad breath and stained teeth, and can also cause gum disease and damage your sense of taste. The most serious damage smoking causes in your mouth and throat is an increased risk of cancer in your lips, tongue, throat, voice box and gullet oesophagus. The good news is that when you stop using tobacco, even after many years of use, you can greatly reduce your risk of developing head and neck cancer.

Once you've been smokefree for 20 years, your risk of head and neck cancer is reduced to that of a non-smoker. Smoking can cause male impotence, as it damages the blood vessels that supply blood to the penis. It can also damage sperm, reduce sperm count and cause testicular cancer. Up to , men from the UK in their 20s and 30s are impotent as a direct result of smoking, and men who smoke have a lower sperm count than those who are non-smokers. For women, smoking can reduce fertility.

One study found that smokers were over three times more likely than non-smokers to have taken more than one year to conceive. Smoking also increases your risk of cervical cancer. People who smoke are less able to get rid of the HPV infection from the body, which can develop into cancer.

If you are pregnant, you can find lots more information on the specialist free support available from the NHS to help you stop smoking here. The good news is that once you stop smoking, your health improves and your body will begin to recover. Click here to find out all you need to free yourself from cigarettes and start a new healthier life.

Good afternoon, This is our updated website. We are still working on it. Your feedback will help us improve it. Every cigarette you smoke is harmful. Circulation When you smoke, the poisons from the tar in your cigarettes enter your blood.

These poisons in your blood then: Make your blood thicker, and increase chances of clot formation Increase your blood pressure and heart rate, making your heart work harder than normal Narrow your arteries, reducing the amount of oxygen rich blood circulating to your organs.