Smoking is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and smokers are almost twice as likely to have a heart attack compared with people who have never smoked. Stopping smoking has huge benefits and it’s never too late to give up!
Smoking is the primary cause of preventable illness and premature death. Every year over 100,000 smokers in the UK die from smoking-related causes. Smoking accounts for:
1 in 3 Respiratory Deaths
1 in 4 Cancer Deaths
1 in 7 Cardiovascular Deaths
- About half of all regulars smokers will be killed by their habit
- In the UK, 13,000 smokers die from Heart Disease each year
- Smokers die on average 10 years younger than non-smokers
- The global yearly death toll as a result of smoking is expected to rise to 7 million by 2020
- Around £2.7 Billion each year is spent by the NHS treating diseases caused by smoking
- Cigarettes are the primary cause of fires in the home accounting for 100’s of deaths every year
- Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, of which at least 50 are known to cause cancer
- Smoking is the main risk factor for developing lung cancer which kills more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer and leukaemia combined
- 4/10 smokers who start in their early teens and continue to smoke will not live to claim their pension
- One year after stopping smoking the risk of a Heart Attack falls to about half that of a non-smoker.
There is lots of support available if you are thinking of quitting or cutting down the amount that you smoke. For more information on smoking, the health effects and how to stop you can visit www.nhs.uk or www.ash.org.uk
