Free smartphone app to help teens quit smoking

A motivational anti-smoking smartphone app has been released, primarily aiming to help teenagers give up smoking now before it is too late and their health is negatively affected, in addition to preventing those from starting the deadly habit if they have not done so already.

The ‘Tobacco-Free Teens’ smartphone app is available free on the Apple iTunes Store and has been funded by the Tobacco Outreach Education Program (TOEP). It has been downloaded more than 1,000 times since its launch on 27 June but this could skyrocket once awareness of the app spreads between friends.

Featuring a variety of colourful and fun animated teen characters and ‘cool’ music, the app will have a universal appeal for teens, including those who have never smoked previously, those who want to quit, those finding it difficult to quit and those with apparently no intention of quitting smoking.

“Our app combines education and entertainment with comics and interactive games,” commented the app’s designer Alexander Prokhorov, a professor in the Department of Behavioural Science at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

He added: “It motivates teens to stay away from tobacco and teaches behavioural skills to help them resist pro-tobacco pressures. Such an approach is much more appealing to youth than text-based instructional tools.”

Prokhorov based the design and content in the app from the curriculum of a bilingual, online tobacco prevention and cessation program aimed and middle and high school students from different countries around the world.

In one of the gaming activities, the user is required to tap away different things that are acting as smoking temptations – depicted as objects – which are quickly moving around the screen.

As a stark reminder of how smoking can affect teenager’s looks to potential romantic interests, a separate game requires the user to match-up two pairs of cards showing memorable images of smoking repercussions such as bad breath, yellow teeth and stained fingers.

“Every module of the app was carefully designed with teens in mind,” says Prokhorov.  He continued: “Most teens are very particular about their appearance and don’t realise that smoking can affect their appearance well before they develop cancer.”

Medical Specialists Pharmacy are supportive of the app as people must remember that the younger you start smoking, the more damage you will do to your body later in life. For instance, did you know that someone who begins smoking at age 15 is three times more at risk of dying from cancer than someone who starts smoking during their mid-20s.

An estimated 20% of teenagers in the UK are smokers and roughly 75% of those will then continue this deadly habit into their adult lives. Clearly something needs to be done to bring these figures down and hopefully the smoking app will play some part in that.

If you are a smoker aged 18 or above, the smoking cessation medication Champix can help you to quit smoking by mimicking the effect of nicotine on the body. Therefore, it both reduces the urge to smoke and relieves withdrawal symptoms. Moreover, Champix can reduce the enjoyment of cigarettes if you do smoke when on treatment. It is available today at Medical Specialists from as little as £75.00 per pack.

Bad breath biggest pre-date fear for Brits

The film ’50 First Dates’ may have depicted the issue as one of a light-hearted comical experience, but in reality first dates can often prove a nerve wracking and sometimes stressful experience – and this is before you have even gone on the date!

Brits worry about a whole assortment of factors leading up to the date such as choosing the right attire to wear or if there will be a sufficient number of topics of interest to discuss to mask over any potential awkward silences.

However, a new survey by the makers of revolutionary mouthwash CB12 has found that indeed bad breath seems to be the biggest concern of single Brits before going on their date, with over half who answered the survey stating this is their main worry before the big night.

Perhaps this is an unsurprising reason provided as a concern when bearing in mind that the same survey found three quarters (75%) claim they would be deterred from going on a second date with somebody if they had bad breath (also known as halitosis).

Topping the list however for dating turn-offs was body odour (86%), followed by bad breath, whilst excessive sweating and bad teeth were both given as reasons for being turned-off by 58% of the respondents.

Therefore, to increase your chances of achieving a second date with somebody, it might be worthwhile making sure you are stocked up with plenty of anti-perspirant, toothpaste and neutralise any bad breath for up to 12 hours with CB12 mouthwash!

The survey also discovered that bad skin/spots (34%), over-doing make-up (30%), untidy-looking nails (29%) and too much facial hair (28%) also proved to be big turn-offs for people.

James Preece, a top UK dating expert said: “It’s completely natural for people to get pre-date nerves, especially on a first date when first impressions are so important. Bad breath is clearly causing a huge amount of angst amongst daters, yet thankfully there are products out there such as CB12 which can help.  Confidence is key when it comes to dating as when people ooze confidence they appear more attractive to others – addressing pre-dates concerns boosts chances of having a fantastic date.”
The biggest pre-date worries, in order, were found to be:

. Bad breath
. Choice of outfit
. Looking fat
. Body odour
. Bad hair
. Food stuck in teeth
. Untidy/Ungroomed nails
. Make-up
James has provided 5 tips for unlucky-in-love serial daters to try and follow. They are:

1. Friday afternoon is the best time of the week to message when online dating. People are winding down at work, looking forward to the weekend and are looking for a distraction and possibly a date over the weekend.

2. If you want to attract and date a ’10,’ you’ve got to become a ’10′ yourself. This needs to be in every way – mentally & physically. So always dress to impress and never stop looking at ways to improve and enrich your life.

3. Mint can really enhance a kiss as the cooling sensation when air hits your mouth is a fantastic feeling. This can make it more memorable and give you more chance of getting another!

4. Kissing involves three senses at once – touch, taste and smell. So if you don’t have fresh breath you’ll spoil it for both of you.  Before your date, make sure your breath is fresh by using a mouth rinse so you can be confident you’ll have fresh breath throughout your date and especially for your first kiss!

5. A smile shows empathy and showing your teeth is a primitive display that you are not a threat.   So if a person gives someone a genuine warm smile it shows they are interested and comfortable talking to them. Studies have shown that teeth don’t need to be overly white to be considered attractive, just clean and natural looking. If you have bad teeth or bad breath then it suggests you are lazy and don’t care about your appearance, so definitely work on this if necessary.