smoking

Question 1

give a figure about deaths attributable to smoking in the uk

Answer 1

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable illness and premature death in England. In 2016 alone, there were estimated to be 77,900 deaths attributable to smoking, representing 16% of all deaths across the UK.

Question 2

what has happened to smoking prevalence rates in the uk

Answer 2

Our smoking prevalence rates have continued to decline year on year and are now at a record low with 14.9% of people aged 18 years and above being smokers. However, inequalities persist and there are still groups where smoking rates remain stubbornly high, such as among people in manual occupations and individuals who suffer with a serious mental illness.

Question 3

how many less smokers are there now than in 2014

Answer 3

Despite there being 1 million fewer smokers now than in 2014, 6.1 million adults in England are still subject to the devastating harm tobacco causes.

Question 4

how much does smoking cost approximately to the NHS each year

Answer 4

smoking places a considerable burden on the NHS, costing approximately £2.5 billion a year.

Question 5

why should we reduce smoking rates

Answer 5

Reducing smoking rates is the single biggest thing we can do to improve the nation’s health as it will reduce cardiovascular disease, respiratory conditions and cancer, meaning people can live longer in better health. It will also save the NHS up to £890 million a year, which is of great significance as smoking places a considerable burden on the NHS, costing approximately £2.5 billion a year.

Question 6

what is PHE calling on the nhs long term plan to commit to

Answer 6

PHE is calling for the NHS long term plan to commit to achieving a smokefree society by 2030 with an adult prevalence of 5% or less.

Question 7

whats the approximate cost of smoking to society each year (and what from)

Answer 7

smoking costs approximately £12.6 billion to society each year. this cost includes:
1.4 billion from social care
2.5 billion on the nhs
and 8.6 billion from lost productivity

Question 8

what proportions of smokers want to quit

Answer 8

In England, around 60% of smokers want to quit, 10% of which intend to do so within 3 months.

Question 9

what proportion of all smokers in england try to quit unaided using willpower alone

Answer 9

Currently, around half of all smokers in England try to quit unaided using willpower alone, despite this being the least effective method. Getting support can greatly increase a person’s chances of quitting successfully.

Question 10

what is a widespread misconception amongst smokers and health professionals

Answer 10

There is a widespread misconception amongst smokers and health professionals that most of the harm of smoking comes from nicotine. This is perhaps the greatest obstacle we face as it leads to both nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and e-cigarettes being perceived as harmful and as a result, smokers may not make a quit attempt using one of these routes.

Question 11

give facts about the widespread misconception amongst smokers and health professionals about nicotine

Answer 11

4 in 10 smokers and ex-smokers mistakenly believe that nicotine in cigarettes is the cause of most of the smoking-related cancer.
3 main causes of mortality from smoking are:
lung cancer, COPD and cardiovascular disease,
none of which are primarily caused by nicotine.

Question 12

how harmful is nicotine

Answer 12

However, while nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, it is relatively harmless and almost all of the harm comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke, many of which are toxic. Further, NRT is a safe form of treatment and licensed for use even in pregnancy and for people with cardiovascular disease.

Question 13

what quitting aids offer the best chance of success

Answer 13

local stop smoking services offer the best chance of success.
smokers are up to 4 times as likely to quit using a combination of behavioural and pharmalogical support than no help or over the counter NRT.
There is clear evidence that the most effective way to quit smoking is with expert behavioural support from local stop smoking services combined with stop smoking aids, including the prescription tablets Varenicline and Bupropion, NRT and e-cigarettes. Smokers who get this package of support are up to four times more likely to quit successfully than those who try to quit unaided or with over the counter NRT.

Question 14

what doubles a persons chances of quitting

Answer 14

using a stop smoking medicine prescribed by a GP, pharmacist or other health professional doubles a person’s chances of quitting.

Question 15

how does using nicotine replacement therapies affect how likely someone is in succeeding to quit

Answer 15

using nicotine replacement therapies such as patches and gums, or e-cigarettes makes it one and a half times as likely a person will succeed

Question 16

what is the least effective method of quitting smoking

Answer 16

using willpower alone

Question 17

what percentage of women in england are still smoking when their baby is born, and what affect could this have on the pregnancy

Answer 17

Recent figures show that 10% of women in England are still smoking when their baby is born, which can double the risk of stillbirth and increase the risk of miscarriage.

Question 18

how does smoking affect your circulation

Answer 18

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.
Together, these changes to your body when you smoke increase the chance of your arteries narrowing and clots forming, which can cause a heart attack or stroke.

Question 19

how does smoking affect your heart

Answer 19

Smoking damages your heart and your blood circulation, increasing the risk of conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack, stroke, peripheral vascular disease (damaged blood vessels) and cerebrovascular disease (damaged arteries that supply blood to your brain).

Carbon monoxide from the smoke and nicotine both put a strain on the heart by making it work faster. They also increase your risk of blood clots. Other chemicals in cigarette smoke damage the lining of your coronary arteries, leading to furring of the arteries.

Question 20

how much does smoking increase your risk of having a heart attack

Answer 20

smoking doubles your risk of having a heart attack

Question 21

how much does smoking increase your risk of dying from coronary heart disease

Answer 21

if you smoke you have twice the risk of dying from coronary heart disease than lifetime non-smokers.

Question 22

how much does your risk of heart disease reduce after one year of not smoking, and after 15 years

Answer 22

The good news is that after only one year of not smoking, your risk is reduced by half. After stopping for 15 years, your risk is similar to that of someone who has never smoked.

Question 23

how does smoking affect your brain

Answer 23

If you smoke, you are more likely to have a stroke than someone who doesn’t smoke.

One way that smoking can increase your risk of a stroke is by increasing your chances of developing a brain aneurysm. This is a bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall. This can rupture or burst which will lead to an extremely serious condition known as a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which is a type of stroke, and can cause extensive brain damage and death.

Question 24

how much smoking increase your risk of having a stroke

Answer 24

Smoking increases your risk of having a stroke by at least 50%, which can cause brain damage and death. And, by smoking, you double your risk of dying from a stroke.

Question 25

how much does your risk of stroke decrease after stopping smoking

Answer 25

The good news is that within two years of stopping smoking, your risk of stroke is reduced to half that of a smoker and within five years it will be the same as a non-smoker.

Question 26

what lung diseases can smoking cause

Answer 26

Smoking can cause fatal diseases such as pneumonia, emphysema and lung cancer.

Question 27

what percentage of deaths from lung cancer does smoking cause

Answer 27

Smoking causes 84% of deaths from lung cancer

Question 28

what percentage of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) cause

Answer 28

Smoking causes 83% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Question 29

what is COPD

Answer 29

COPD, a progressive and debilitating disease, is the name for a collection of lung diseases including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. People with COPD have difficulties breathing, primarily due to the narrowing of their airways and destruction of lung tissue. Typical symptoms of COPD include: increasing breathlessness when active, a persistent cough with phlegm and frequent chest infections.

Whilst the early signs of COPD can often be dismissed as a ‘smoker’s cough’, if people continue smoking and the condition worsens, it can greatly impact on their quality of life. You can slow down the progression of the disease and stopping smoking is the most effective way to do this.

Question 30

how does smoking affect your mouth and throat

Answer 30

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). More than 93% of oropharyngeal cancers (cancer in part of the throat) are caused by smoking.

Question 31

how does smoking affect your stomach

Answer 31

Smokers have an increased chance of getting stomach cancer or ulcers. Smoking can weaken the muscle that controls the lower end of your gullet (oesophagus) and allow acid from the stomach to travel in the wrong direction back up your gullet, a process known as reflux.

Question 32

how does smoking affect your risk of developing kidney cancer

Answer 32

Smoking is a significant risk factor for developing kidney cancer, and the more you smoke the greater the risk. For example, research has shown that if you regularly smoke 10 cigarettes a day, you are one and a half times more likely to develop kidney cancer compared with a non-smoker. This is increased to twice as likely if you smoke 20 or more cigarettes a day.

Question 33

what is emphysema

Answer 33

Emphysema is a lung condition that causes shortness of breath. In people with emphysema, the air sacs in the lungs (alveoli) are damaged. Over time, the inner walls of the air sacs weaken and rupture — creating larger air spaces instead of many small ones. This reduces the surface area of the lungs and, in turn, the amount of oxygen that reaches your bloodstream.

When you exhale, the damaged alveoli don’t work properly and old air becomes trapped, leaving no room for fresh, oxygen-rich air to enter.