Make March the month you stop smoking with the 3fivetwo Group

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Make March the month you stop smoking!

19th, Mar 2014

National Stop Smoking day has been and gone but at the 3fivetwo Group, we realise that smoking is not only a habit that's hard to break, it's a habit that you can aim to stop at anytime for a healthier future.

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For many of our readers, the good intentions from National Stop Smoking Day (12th March) have been and gone but many are left still reaching for that cigarette packet when they get the urge.

Cigarettes have increasingly fallen out of favour with the general public and rightly so. Not only has the cost skyrocketed due to tax increases leaving many scrimping just to feed their habit but the health benefits of quitting are now more in the public eye than ever before.

Quitting smoking can be one of the best decisions for your health you can make. With willpower, help or even nicotine replacement therapy, smoking can become a distant memory of your past and a healthier future will see you reap the benefits of a new found sense of achievement and a more active lifestyle.

If you are one of those people who did set out with good intentions but have lapsed back to cigarettes, make March the month you quit forever.

Did you know that platelets in the blood go back to normal “stickiness” after only 24 hours, so even stopping smoking for 24 hours reduces your chances of a heart attack or a stroke.

We all understand the idea of investing our money where it is going to bring us the most benefit. Doctors agree that stopping smoking is beneficial and that, even taking other health risks into account, anyone who is a smoker can derive great health benefits from simply stopping smoking… a sound investment in the “Health Bank”!

Many people do not enjoy smoking and wish that they could stop. These are the people who are addicted perhaps chemically to the nicotine and psychologically to the need for a cigarette or the habit of doing a thing repeatedly so often that it becomes part of your routine. This group can be helped very easily and we would encourage you, if you are in this group to seek advice about stopping smoking from a Doctor, a Nurse or a stop smoking Counsellor. You have the option of visiting one of our experienced GPs or Nurses at 3fivetwo where they will have access to all of the up to date therapies to help with beating this addiction. There are many, many options now, so even if you have tried before and failed, it is worth trying again, even with a method that you have tried before. It doesn’t matter how many times you fail in trying to give up, as long as you keep trying until you do succeed! The benefits grow day by day, year on year, and so it is never too soon to start stopping for good. There are benefits to the heart and circulation, the brain, the lungs and even the gastrointestinal tract. You will soon taste and smell things a lot better. But as well as the positives, there are improvements in the negatives caused by smoking like a reduction in risk of many cancers, reduction in high blood pressure ( which can be caused by smoking) reduction in premature ageing etc.

For those people who really enjoy smoking and find it a pleasure that they would prefer to NOT do without, it is more difficult. There has to be a shift in the approach to smoking. Instead of seeing smoking as a comfort and a good and pleasurable thing, somehow the mental approach has to change. It has to be seen as a risky process, which many gamble with and often get away with, but many others suffer the consequences. So many smokers regret not giving up sooner both recognising and embracing the very clear health benefits of stopping smoking and keeping the focus on the benefits, or doing something simple like putting into an account or a money box what you would ordinarily spend on cigarettes instead of spending the money on the cigarettes. Watch the money grow (very quickly) and by the end of a week, when there could be £50 in the account treat yourself to a meal out, or keep it going for a month and treat yourself to a weekend away, or save up for the car you had always wanted as £200 per month will go a long way to buying a new car. The PRIZE suddenly is worth it.

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Whatever your position, and whatever your reasons, we at 3fivetwo Healthcare would like to encourage our patients who are smokers to give it a go this month. National stop smoking day has passed but making the choice for a healthier future can be a decision you make anytime. If you need help and want some encouragement, please come and see us!

What’s in a cigarette?

Each cigarette contains around 4,000 chemicals, as well as nicotine, many of which are known to be toxic.

Here are a few of the main chemicals in each cigarette:

Acetone widely used as a solvent, for example in nail polish remover
Ammonia found in cleaning fluids
Arsenic a deadly poison, used in insecticides
Benzene used as a solvent in fuel and chemical production
Cadmium a highly poisonous metal used in batteries
Carbon monoxide (CO) an odourless, tasteless and poisonous gas; makes breathing more difficult as it combines with the blood that carries oxygen around the body. Up to 15 per cent of a smoker's blood may be carrying CO instead of oxygen, making the heart work harder, and potentially leading to coronary heart disease and circulation problems.
Cyanide a deadly poison
Formaldehyde used to preserve dead bodies
Shellac becomes a wood varnish when mixed with a form of alcohol
Tar a mixture of chemicals (including formaldehyde, arsenic and cyanide). About 70 per cent of the tar is left in smokers' lungs, causing a range of serious lung conditions

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After quitting the benefits are very clear:

20 minutes	Your heart rate and blood pressure return to normal
8 hours	Nicotine and carbon monoxide start to leave your body and oxygen levels return to normal.
24 hours	Your lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.
48 hours	Nicotine has been eliminated from your body and your sense of smell and taste both improve.
2 - 12 weeks	Exercise becomes easier and your breathing improves.
3 - 9 months	Any coughs, wheezing and breathing problems are reduced as your lungs repair.
1 year	Your risk of coronary heart disease is now half that of a smoker.