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Time to stub out the cigarettes for good
Kicking the habit has been in the headlines this week as thousands try to stop in the wake of National No Smoking Day.
On Wednesday, March 10, people across the UK were targeted in a bid to
get them to see the benefits of stopping smoking.
Belper was no exception to the rule as health experts at Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust (PCT) launched events to convince people to stop and improve their health and at the same time 'save a packet'.
But quitting can be a lot harder than just making the decision to stop.
According to research around two-thirds of smokers want to stop but struggle with following through on the decision.
Reporter Laura Hammond found out more.
Smoking is bad for you, everybody knows that. It damages your health, makes your clothes and breath smell bad, and forces you to go and stand outside in the rain when you go to the pub with your friends as you pursue your habit.
So why do it? Two thirds of smokers have tried and failed to stop in the past, suggesting that it's not the desire to stop which is the problem.
In the past the only way to quit was to go cold turkey alone and fight your way through, but these days there is much more help available.
Belper man Eric Patrick used nicotine patches when he kicked the habit after he was given the ultimatum 'quit or die'.
The 61-year-old, of Mill Avenue, developed COPD after supporting a 20-a-day habit for 43 years. The warning light sounded after he suffered 'a happening'.
Eric said: "My throat closed and I couldn't breathe. Gradually it opened up after what seemed like an eternity but it was probably only a few seconds.
"I was told pack up smoking or else. It really frightened me and I just thought – I've got to pack up."
After making the decision Eric went to the weekly Stop Smoking sessions at the Cottage Project, on Chapel Street, in Belper.
The sessions provide support and advice for people wishing to stop smoking, and work through the methods which will be most effective for the individual smoker.
Eric said: "I can't say it's been dead easy but I haven't struggled a lot and that's because of the support.
"The trouble is people smoke and they say 'you've got to die of something' but when you're actually told you've got something wrong with you it's a different ball game."
Derbyshire County PCT figures show that around 4,850 people have quit smoking in the county through the Stop Smoking Service.
Advisor Judith Vincent said: "Smokers never think it's going to happen to them but once it does it's a real wake-up call. It's never too late to stop smoking."
But the NHS way is not the only way to kick the habit. Herbs such as lobelia and tabacium are said to help reduce the body's cravings for nicotine and tobacco. It is also possible to get non-tobacco cigarettes made using menthol or cinnamon.
Hypnotherapy has also been widely advocated as a quitting method.
Lisa Wallace, from Ashbourne-based Hypnocentric, which covers Belper, said: "Hypnotherapy helps people beat the physical and mental addiction.
"Things like nicotine patches are very effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettes but they don't help you beat the habit, you just swap it for something else.
"Hypnotherapy offers a shift in perspective to make people see that nothing of value has been taken away."
For more information on quitting call the county stop smoking service on 0800 085 2299 or click here.
The facts:
Around ten million adults in the UK smoke cigarettes (23 per cent)
This has dropped from around a third of the adult population twenty years ago.
On average around 106,000 people die from smoke-related diseases every year.
Smoking is the greatest single cause of illness and premature death in the UK
Almost half of all smokers die from smoke-related diseases.
Smoking can lead to diseases including lung cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Less serious side effects include asthama, tuberculosis and thyroid problems.
In women smoking can lead to poor fertility, miscarriage, issues during pregnancy and birth defects.
Just one year after stopping smoking the risk of suffering a heart attack drops to half that of a smoker.
The nicotine in cigarettes is the part that makes them so addictive.
Children of smokers are more likely to become smokers.
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Weather for Belper
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet showers
Temperature: -0 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Light snow
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
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