SMOKING - Health and Wellbeing e-News - special edition

Welcome to this special edition e-News on the topic of smoking. 

The information has been produced by Shropshire's Help2Quit team who offer help and advice to stop smoking.

Find out more by visiting the Healthy Shropshire website.

Read on for news and information:

• Why is smoking bad for my health and how can I stop?
• Smoking & pregnancy
• Stop before your op
• Smoking in cars - new legislation
• Smoking & illicit tobacco
• Smoking & pets

Smoking and your health -  How can I quit?

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,500 chemicals, many of which are irritants or toxic, and more than 60 are known to cause cancer. 

The benefits of stopping smoking begin almost immediately and quitting is probably the greatest single step you can take to improve your health. It doesn't matter how many times you have tried before - you CAN STOP smoking and join the many thousands who have already successfully quit with Help2Quit support. You are four times more likely to stop smoking successfully with a stop smoking service than you are alone.

Smokers can get help and advice from Shropshire’s local stop smoking service, Help2Quit, which is available in almost all GP surgeries in Shropshire and is also provided in many pharmacies, community venues, hospitals and selected supermarkets.

For more information about quitting smoking in Shropshire call Help2Quit on 0345 6789 025 or visit www.healthyshropshire.co.uk.

Smoking and Pregnancy

Smoking is the single biggest risk to a healthy pregnancy. If you are pregnant, or are trying for a baby, stopping smoking is one of the most important steps you can take to protect your health, and the health, growth and development of your unborn child.

Smoking whilst pregnant means your unborn baby struggles to get enough oxygen, and is linked to complications during pregnancy and labour, bleeding during pregnancy, abnormalities of the baby, miscarriage, premature birth, still birth and sudden infant death syndrome (cot death).  Smoking during your pregnancy is also linked to a slower growth and a lower birth weight, and is associated with higher risks of death and disease in infancy and early childhood.

When you stop smoking:

• you will have fewer complications in pregnancy
• you are less likely to experience a bleed during your pregnancy
• you are more likely to have a healthier pregnancy and a healthier baby
• you will reduce the risk of stillbirth and cot death
• your baby is less likely to be born prematurely

The number of pregnant smokers in Shropshire is at a new low, which reflects the dedication of our local Help2Quit Stop Smoking Service and maternity teams, who are supporting mums to go smokefree. 

Help2Quit, the local NHS Stop Smoking Service in Shropshire, provides a special Pregnancy Service for pregnant women, their partners, family and friends, by offering extra help and support to quit smoking.  The Help2Quit in Pregnancy service is available in GP surgeries, pharmacies, community venues and in people’s own homes.  More information is available by calling 0345 6789 025 (Monday-Saturday 8am-8pm) or visiting www.healthyshropshire.co.uk

Stop before your op

Smoking greatly increases the risk of complications during and after surgery.  There is good evidence that stopping smoking before an operation reduces the risk of lung, heart and infectious complications, reduces wound healing time, reduces the length of stay in hospital and reduces anaesthesia related complications.

Smoking in cars legislation change

Over 80% of cigarette smoke is invisible and odourless, and opening windows and doors will not remove its harmful effect; levels of secondhand smoke in cars can be particularly high because of the restricted area in which the smoke is circulated. Secondhand smoke can cause chest and ear infections, asthma attacks and other acute effects, as well as posing a long-term risk of cancer.

Following a Parliamentary decision in February, smoking in private vehicles with persons under the age of 18 present, will become an offence with effect from 1 October 2015.  People who fail to comply could be issued with a £50 fixed penalty notice.  Ahead of the law change, Shropshire Council’s Public Health team are urging residents who smoke in their home or car, to consider the dangers of secondhand smoke and the consequence of secondhand smoke when inhaled by children.

Smoking & Illicit Tobacco

All tobacco products, whether bought legitimately or illegally, contain over 4,500 chemicals, at least 60 of which are known to cause cancer.  Smoking is the UK's leading cause of early death, causing approximately 100,000 avoidable deaths every year.

Illegal tobacco products are ones that have been smuggled (brought into the UK illegally to be sold on the black market), bootlegged (brought into the UK in large quantities from countries with lower taxes) or are counterfeit (fake products, made to look like recognised brands).  One in every ten cigarettes consumed worldwide is illegal and as they are more affordable, they encourage people to smoke more and make it harder for smokers to quit. 

Illegal tobacco also has strong connections with both low-level and large-scale organised crime, so many of the people smuggling, distributing and selling it are involved in drug dealing, money laundering and other crime. If you have any concerns about this issue, please contact the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06, with whom Shropshire Council works in partnership.

Smoking & Pets

Opening windows and doors will not remove the harmful effects of invisible cigarette smoke.  Shropshire Council’s Public Health team are urging residents who smoke in their home or car, to consider the dangers of secondhand smoke and the consequence of secondhand smoke when inhaled by pets, not just people.

Research has shown that exposure to tobacco smoke has been associated with certain cancers in dogs and cats, allergies in dogs, and eye and skin diseases and respiratory problems in birds.  Air pollution is about eight times higher in smoky homes, but the good news is that many smokers, once they become aware that secondhand smoke is bad for their pet's health, are being motivated to quit.

Visit the Healthy Shropshire website to find out more information, or contact Help2Quit on 0345 6789 025 (Monday-Saturday 8am-8pm).

Got some news to share?

If you have a topic or article that you would like to feature in this newsletter, please contact us by email: shropshiretogether@shropshire.gov.uk or telephone: 01743 253937.

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Health and Wellbeing Board - Next Meeting:

The next public Health and Wellbeing Board meeting will be held on Friday 11th September 2015, at 9.30am at Shirehall in Shrewsbury.

The agenda and relevant papers will become available on the Health and Wellbeing webpage prior to the meeting. Please see the attached link below to access previous meeting agendas:

Health and Wellbeing Board