SMOKING

Smoking cigarettes is one of the greatest avoidable health risks a man can face. A study involving half a million smokers has proved conclusively that the risk of premature death is nearly twice as high in smokers as in non-smokers. A form of stroke called sub-arachnoid brain haemorrhage is six times more likely in young smokers than in non-smokers, and other studies have shown that smoking-related diseases kill 40 per cent of smokers before they reach retirement. On average, non-smokers live at least six years longer than smokers. Smoking cigarettes is linked with:

Cardiovascular Disease

• angina and heart attack

• palpitations and irregular pulse

• increased blood clotting and thrombosis

• high blood pressure and stroke

• poor circulation, which can lead to:

• pain in the calves on exercising

• multi-infarct senile dementia

• blindness

• aortic aneurysm

Lung Disease

• chronic bronchitis

• emphysema

Gastro-intestinal Tract Disease

• gingivitis (inflamed gums)

• halitosis (bad breath)

• peptic ulcers

Cancers

• mouth, lip, tongue, throat

• stomach

• pancreas

• large bowel

• penis

• bladder

• kidney

• lung

Sexual Dysfunction

• non-rigid erections

• impotence

• subfertility

There are 300 deaths per day in the UK from smoking-related disease, and doctors can now write 'smoking' as a cause of death on death certificates.

As well as affecting his own health, a man who smokes also puts the health of his children at risk. Studies show that:

• 25 per cent of cot deaths are linked with passive smoking.

• Passive smoking causes 4,000 miscarriages per year.

• Passive smoking causes asthma, eczema and glue ear in young children.

• Men who smoke more than 20 cigarettes per day are twice as likely to father children with a hare lip (cleft palate), heart defect or abnormalities of the genital tract than men who do not smoke.

• The children of men who smoke are twice as likely to develop childhood leukaemia or lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes).

• The children of men who smoke are 40 per cent more likely to develop brain tumours than are the children of non-smoking fathers.

• When men smoke heavily (11 or more cigarettes per day) the relative risk of their child developing any childhood cancer is 1.7 times greater than that of a child whose father does not smoke. This effect seems to be even greater if the child is male.

Some of these increased risks occur because smoking cigarettes doubles the number of free radicals produced in the body every second. These cause significant genetic damage to the sperm.

Fathers who continue to smoke while their partner is pregnant, and after the child is born, expose their family to constituents of tobacco smoke that are passively absorbed across the placenta, and by growing babies.

Health Benefits of Quitting

The good news is that giving up smoking has immediate beneficial effects on your health:

Within 20 minutes:

• Your blood pressure and pulse fall significantly.

Within 8 hours

• Levels of poisonous carbon monoxide in your blood drop to normal.

• The oxygen level of your blood increases to normal.

Within 24 hours

• Your chance of a heart attack decreases.

Within 48 hours

• Your nerve endings start to regrow.

• Your senses of smell and taste become stronger.

• The level of clotting factors in your blood reduce to normal.

Within 72 hours

• Your lung airways relax, making it easier to breathe.

• The volume of air your lungs can hold increases.

• Lung congestion, shortness of breath and coughing decrease.

• You feel more energetic.

Within 1­3 months

• Your circulation improves.

• Erections become more rigid.

• The male sperm count increases significantly.

• Walking becomes easier.

• Lung function improves by up to a third.

Within 5 years

• Your risk of lung cancer decreases by half.

• The risk of premature wrinkling of the skin decreases.

Within 10 years

• Your risk of lung cancer reduces to normal.

• Precancerous cells in your lungs are replaced with normal cells.

• Your risk of other cancers (e.g. mouth, throat, bladder) reduces to normal.

How to Quit Smoking

Nicotine is addictive and giving up is not easy. Withdrawal symptoms ­ tension, aggression, depression, cravings, flushing, constipation, insomnia and lack of concentration ­ can make you feel you are going mad. The going is tough and, unfortunately, 80 per cent of smokers who try to give up relapse within one year. Only 35 per cent of smokers succeed in quitting before the age of 60.

One of the most difficult things to overcome is the habit of putting your hand to your mouth. If you smoke 20 cigarettes a day this is a gesture you make around 10 times per cigarette, 200 times a day, 1,400 times per week, 73,000 times per year. That's a lot of habit to kick.

Try the following Quit Plan:

• Name the day to give up and psyche yourself into the right frame of mind beforehand.

• Find someone to give up with you ­ it's much easier to give up with a friend or relative.

• Throw away all cigarette papers, matches, lighters, ashtrays and spare packets of fags.

• Take it one day at a time ­ the thought of never smoking again is daunting, so just concentrate on getting through each day.

• Keep a chart and tick off each successful cigarette-free day ­ plan a reward for every week of success with all the money you've saved from not smoking.

• Find something to occupy your hands to help break the hand-to-mouth habit: try making models, origami, painting or drawing ­ anything!

• Keep active with exercise or DIY jobs in the evening rather than sitting in front of the television. Exercise releases a brain chemical (serotonin) that will curb your craving for nicotine.

• When you get that urge to put something in your mouth, suck on an artificial cigarette. These are available in chemist shops ­ alternatively make your own from celery or carrot sticks.

• If the urge for a cigarette becomes overwhelming, clean your teeth with a strongly flavoured toothpaste, then go for a brisk walk.

• Avoid situations where you used to smoke, or plan ahead to overcome them: for example, ask friends not to smoke around you; go for a brisk walk during your coffee break.

• Practise saying 'No thanks, I've given up' ­ and mean it.

If the short sharp approach doesn't work for you, try nicotine replacement products (gum, nasal spray or patches) to see you through. Studies show that patches can double the chance of successfully giving up smoking. These should be stuck on a hairless area of skin such as your upper arm. Patches should be changed every day and not taken off at night. It is possible to swim, bathe or shower with the patches on, but don't be tempted to smoke while you are using them. The interaction of the two forms of nicotine is dangerous and can even trigger a heart attack.

Hypnotherapy

This can work where other attempts to quit smoking have failed. In one study, hypnotherapy helped 30 per cent of patients to kick the habit ­ making it more effective, in fact, than any other method used to help patients stop smoking.