Do you need prescription medication? Ask Your Dr for confidential and convenient access to certain medications. Enter your postcode to find your nearest pharmacy that can help.Healthy Viewpoint: Extra Help to Stop Smoking in 2012
With every January comes the inevitable resolutions that could improve your health. But if you're one of the seven million British smokers estimated to be aiming to quit smoking this year, there's more help than ever out there if you need that little bit of extra support.
For instance, thinking about the many health benefits of quitting is one way to motivate yourself, say experts.
"Stop smoking and you will have younger looking skin due to more oxygen in your body, whiter teeth and fresher breath, and by the end of this year you will be less stressed and your life expectancy will have increased as your risk of a heart attack halves," advises NHS Somerset Public Health Specialist Stewart Brock.
Some of the benefits of stopping smoking are almost immediate. Approximately 24 hours after quitting smoking all that carbon monoxide is eliminated from your body and your lungs start to clear out the build-up of tar. Then after 48 hours your senses of taste and smell are greatly improved. After three days your breathing becomes easier as the bronchial tubes being to relax and your energy levels start to improve. Over the next few weeks your circulation improves and even walking and running around become easier.
"For anyone who smokes this is the ultimate detox – and of course if you usually smoke around your family then your loved ones and your family pets will get all the health benefits too," adds Brock.
If you need further motivation, according to NHS Choices the following are 10 health benefits of stopping smoking:
- Better sex
- Improved fertility
- Younger looking skin
- Whiter teeth and fresher breath
- Better breathing
- Less stress
- Improved smell and taste
- More energy
- Longer life
- Healthier loved ones
Invaluable practical help is also available from pharmacies, where you can buy and get advice on nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products (or you can use the Ask Your Dr online service for further support with NRT products and quitting smoking). You can also sign up for our ActiveStop quitting programme, a useful online tool that allows you to create a personalised quit plan and much more, including daily help and advice by email and a tailored online progress report and quitting diary.
Statistics suggest two-thirds of the 10 million or so smokers in this country would like to quit smoking. Are you trying to give up cigarettes this year?
Let us know how you're getting on, including any tips you might have for other people who are trying to quit.
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