Stoptober is Back! Medical Specialists® Pharmacy urge the nation's smokers to join the annual stop smoking attempt

Let’s be honest – there is never a bad time to stop smoking. Smokers can kick the habit on any given day or week, but if there is an ideal time to try and with a boosted chance of giving up for good, the month of October is a great time of the year to start.

The 1st October will see the launch of what is now a regular addition to the calendar - the annual 28-day Stoptober campaign, created and funded by Public Health England as an effective drive to encourage more of the nation to kick smoking into touch.

Last year saw over a quarter of a million smokers make the pledge to try and stop smoking, with a huge increase in the number of patients coming to Medical Specialists® Pharmacy for information about obtaining the popular smoking cessation treatment Champix (Varenicline), and the pharmacy expects a similar sales surge for 2015, if not much bigger.

Data from the Office for National Statistics show that 18.7% of adults in the UK smoked in 2013 - down from 19.8% in 2012. After the conclusion of last year’s Stoptober, Public Health England say its latest figures indicated that smoking rates had continued to fall during the last few months of 2014.

A 4 week duration is used for the Stoptober challenge due to the fact that research has shown those who manage to abstain from smoking for 28 days are actually 5 times more likely to quit for good. In addition, it is often said for every 28 days a smoker quits for, they could add an extra week onto their lifespan.

At Medical Specialists®, we know that making the leap into tobacco-free territory can be difficult and stressful, but those deciding to stop smoking should realise they are not alone. Literally thousands of others have made the same pledge to stop too, which should provide a welcome boost to willpower.

In addition, those that decide to sign up to this year’s Stoptober will receive a personal helping hand in their efforts, courtesy of some of the UK’s favourite comedians, such as Al Murray, Bill Bailey, Rhod Gilbert and Shappi Khorsandi. Quitters that register for the service can expect to be inundated with light-hearted and humorous messages of support and encouragement, sent straight to the participant’s phone and email during the 28 day period of Stoptober.

Comedian Rhod Gilbert decided to throw his support behind the annual Stoptober campaign after being a smoker himself for 25 years, toiling for 23 years of those attempting to quit. He says: “I know first-hand that it can be hard to find the motivation to quit, but Stoptober is the perfect time to give it a go,” he says.

There are countless benefits to ditching cigarettes. For example, quitters can expect to notice many physical improvements such as a boosted sense of taste and smell, increased energy levels, reduced signs of facial aging and wrinkles, whiter teeth, fresher breath and even better sex due to the improved blood flow and stronger erections for men.

Moreover, people that successfully quit smoking will have much serious longer term benefits, such as a lower risk of suffering from heart disease and a wide range of cancers such as lung cancer, not to mention protecting the health of those in the surrounding vicinity as there will now be no secondhand smoke for them to inhale.

Despite the fact smoking rates have come down in recent years, smoking remains the biggest factor behind preventable illness and premature death in the country - responsible for nearly 80,000 deaths per year in England alone.

Smokers aged 18 or above that want to quit, can use the support Stoptober as a foundation for doing so, along with help from Medical Specialists®.

Begin the road to a smoke-free future today by obtain the smoking cessation medication Champix following an online consultation with one of Medical Specialists’ GMC registered doctors. Champix works out from as little £26.95* a pack. The treatment works by mimicking the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment.

(*based on private prescription price)

Medical Specialists® inundated with requests for smoking cessation treatment in the run up to No Smoking Day

Medical Specialists® Pharmacy are proud to support this year’s national No Smoking Day, which will be taking place on 11 March.

For those not aware of its origins, No Smoking Day is an annual campaign that has been running since Ash Wednesday in 1983, when it was known as ‘Quit for the Day’, although despite the name, it is obvious this one day is intended to be a sampler / springboard for a longer-term and more permanent quitting of smoking.

The campaign was initially led by a charity bearing the same name that operated in London with only four full-time staff, until it was then merged with the British Heart Foundation in 2011. The funds are provided by coalition of governmental and voluntary sector organisations looking to improve the nation’s health.

Each year there are an estimated one million smokers that use No Smoking Day to try and stop smoking. The No Smoking Day charity has previously claimed that about 1.5 million smokers have successfully managed to quit for good since its launch 32 years ago.

After experiencing a recent surge in the requests for smoking cessation treatment Champix, Medical Specialists® believe that this year, there could be potentially significantly more than just one million people trying to give up the cigarettes in Britain.

What the campaign doesn’t do is attempt to harass or force smokers into immediately stopping for good – the day is primarily for those smokers that want to quit, in addition to providing support prior to and after No Smoking Day, with the British Heart Foundation website offering information on national helplines, local stop smoking services and the chance to join a support forum.

The forum is an excellent way to get in touch with thousands of other fellow smokers looking to quit and lets people know they are not alone in their efforts to stub out. The forum is even moderated by ex-smokers that have successfully given up themselves.

As the name of the charity would suggest, the British Heart Foundation use their knowledge and resources to boost the public’s heart health, and provide information on the damage smoking does to the body, even detailing some of the toxic chemicals that smokers inhale with each passing cigarette – it certainly makes for grim reading.

The fact remains that smokers are at double the risk of suffering from a heart attack compared to people that have never smoked and smoking is the main cause of a multitude of cancers and lung disease.

Even with these health risks, some people still refuse to stop smoking. This could explain why last year the British Heart Foundation chose to reach out to smokers in other ways – namely highlighting the financial benefits of stopping smoking.

With the current financial climate, it is simply unfeasible to be regularly forking out £10 for a packet of cigarettes and skimp on food or even withhold paying bills.

The British Heart Foundation have even detailed what people could treat themselves to with the money saved from not buying cigarettes*.

For example, after…

1 Day – £8.50: two movie rentals / a new lipstick / download a new album
1 week – £59.50: a family cinema trip/ a pair of shoes / a meal for two
1 month – £255: a shopping spree / Premiership football tickets / a weekend break
3 months – £765
6 months – £1,530: a leather suite/ a home cinema / a top of the range bicycle
1 year – £3,102.50: a new kitchen / designer jewellery / holiday of a lifetime

*Figures based on a 20-a-day smoker paying £8.50 per packet of 20 cigarettes.

And if that wasn’t music to the ears of smokers, by quitting smoking they will earn extra pocket money on top of that already saved! Ex-smokers may now suddenly discover that life, home and car insurance are cheaper due to then being a non-smoker.

Medical Specialists® wish all smokers the best of luck for next weeks No Smoking Day. There is plenty of help at hand, from the British Heart Foundation’s ‘I want to quit’ page, their links to a forum and various nationwide stop smoking services, to smoking cessation treatment from Medical Specialists® like Champix, for a more longer term quitting strategy. This treatment can be obtained by an online consultation with one of our GMC-registered doctors, or by sending us a private prescription.

Medical Specialists® Pharmacy offer 6 tips for a healthy heart for National Heart Month

With Valentine’s Day less than two weeks away, the second month of the year often causes pandemonium as couples all around the world, more than at any other time, use all the love in their heart’s to make that extra effort in showing their loved one how much they care.

There could be another reason to think about the heart this month though – for those unaware, February is National Heart Month. The month-long campaign is led by the British Heart Foundation as a way to urge the nation to think more about heart health, as well as to increase awareness about heart and circulatory diseases.

The campaign is one that is annually supported by Medical Specialists® Pharmacy as heart and circulatory diseases are the leading causes of death for adults in Britain. Heart disease comprises of conditions such as coronary heart disease, heart attack and heart failure. However, there are steps to take to help prevent heart problems.

. Cut down on alcohol intake

The NHS recommends that men should not drink more than 3-4 units of alcohol a day, whilst for women the figure stands at just 2-3 units a day at most, and consuming more than this can have a detrimental impact to your heart health. Excessive alcohol intake can raise the amount of triglycerides (a type of fat) in the blood and also lead to abnormal heart rhythms, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke and obesity from the additional calories you are taking in.  Cutting down on alcohol can be made easier through the help of Medical Specialists® Pharmacy, who have recently began to supply the alcohol dependency treatment Selincro to suitable patients, after being inundated with requests for it.

. Cut down on salt intake

It is recommended that an adult should consume no more than 6g of salt per day – around one full teaspoon. As food labels sometimes only give the figure for sodium, people might be unsure how much they are getting but the following formula from the sodium figure listed, can help: Salt = sodium x 2.5. Therefore, adults should consume no more than 2.4g of sodium per day; equal to 6g of salt. Unfortunately, many of us in the UK consume far more than the 6g limit. On average, people in the UK eat about 8.1g of salt (3.2g sodium) a day. Too much salt can increase the volume of body fluids increases and raise blood pressure. High blood pressure (hypertension) can then result in serious problems such as heart disease or stroke.

.  Cut down on sugar intake

The majority of food and drink products that contain plenty of added sugars, also contain a high number of calories, often having very little nutritional value. Consuming plenty of sugary food and drink on a regular basis can result in weight gain and obesity, thus risking health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Added sugars should comprise of no more than 10% of the energy (calorie intake) obtained from food and drink each day, which works out at around 70g for men and 50g for women, but can vary according to age, size, and how active a person is. Food and drink to consider cutting down on include: sugary cereals, fizzy drinks, sugary squash, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, sweets, cereal bars, cakes, ice cream, puddings and yoghurt.

. Stop smoking

Smoking causes damage to the lining of the arteries, thereby reducing the space for blood to travel through, with the carbon monoxide contained in cigarettes also effecting the amount of oxygen that can reach the heart and other areas of the body, forcing the heart to work much harder to supply the body with the oxygen it requires. The dangers of smoking are further explained on the British Heart Foundation’s website, but smokers are at double the risk of suffering from a heart attack compared to people that have never smoked and smoking is the main cause of a multitude of cancers and lung disease. Smoking cessation treatments such as Champix can help people quit smoking for good though and reduce the risk of heart problems.

. Keep active

Extra weight is widely accepted to be linked to increase the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes, and all of these conditions then make heart disease or stroke all the more likely. For those unsure if they are at a healthy weight, body mass index (BMI) is usually one of the first port of calls to check this. A BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight, whilst a BMI of 30 to 39.9 is considered to be obese. Exercise is a great way to shed the pounds but the simple fact remains that much of the nation lives a sedentary lifestyle. The NHS recommends that one step in treating obesity is to take up activities such as fast walking, jogging, swimming or tennis for 150-300 minutes a week, but obesity treatments like Xenical – in conjunction with a healthy diet – can help with weight loss too.

. Lower cholesterol

Adopting a healthy diet and regular exercise, as previously highlighted, can lower the level of cholesterol in the blood, or prevent cholesterol levels being too high to begin with. The higher the cholesterol level, the higher the risk of stroke or heart disease and therefore the overall risk of having a heart attack. Statin medication such as Atorvastatin or Pravastatin work to lower the LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol and raise the HDL (‘good’) cholesterol, and may be prescribed to certain people with risk factors for heart conditions, such as those with high cholesterol or high blood pressure, older patients, smokers, or those with family history of early heart disease.

The British Heart Foundation’s webpage has more information about heart diseases and advice on how to beat them.  Moreover, the charity are encouraging the nation to show their support on 6 February by wearing red and hosting an event to raise funds for their life-saving research. Anyone can get involved, whether it is at the workplace, school or with friends and family, and there are loads of great ideas for fundraising and essentials such as the sponsorship form and event poster.

Exploding e-cigarettes putting lives at risk

The safety of electronic cigarettes has been plunged into further doubt after an electronic cigarette user almost had his legs blown off due to one of the devices ‘exploding like a grenade’.

Medics that initially treated 48-year-old David Aspinall from Wigan, thought he had been the unfortunate victim of a gun attack when they first saw his gruesome, serve injuries.

Mr Aspinall’s life was almost destroyed by the exploding e-cigarette as his home quickly set ablaze and he then had to spend 9 days in hospital recovering from the traumatic ordeal.

He was in the middle of using the device when it overheated and exploded, resulting in shards of metal ripping into his limbs and his home being set on fire.

Speaking to The Sun, Mr Aspinall, who now faces up to three years of skin grafts to recover, said: “It glowed and burned in my hand. I dropped it and it exploded. There was lots of blood, a huge hole in one leg and a gash in the other. It could have blown my head off. The surgeon said it was like someone had used a gun.”

Even though ex-decorator Mr Aspinall had suffering shocking injuries and lost a litre of blood in the process, he managed to reach his neighbour, who likened the scene to that in a horror film.

Mr Aspinall has now reverted to conventional cigarettes, arguing – maybe questionably – that they are the safer option: He added: “I’m back on ciggies. It’s safest”, and is now proceeding to sue the maker of the Mutant Clone e-cigarette for compensation. The shop who sold him the device has blamed faulty batteries for the disaster.

This is not the first time an electronic cigarette has exploded however, and questions will now be raised about the safety of them.

. In August of this year, David Thomson, 62, died at home in Wallasey, Merseyside, after an e-cigarette he had left to charge then exploded and ignited oxygen equipment in the same room.

. In April of this year, pensioner Jen Booth was on a ward at Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester, when an e-cigarette ignited her oxygen supply and engulfed her in flames. The 65-year-old suffered serious burns.

. In the same month Jen Booth suffered burns, a woman in Barking, East London required hospital treatment due to smoke inhalation and shock after her flat was set alight – all because of an e-cigarette being used with an incompatible charger.

. Also in April, CCTV managed to capture the moment an e-cigarette exploded into flames at the Buck Inn Hotel in Richmond, South-West London. Pub worker Laura Baty, 18, was fortunate to escape severe injury.

It is perhaps for these reasons for many are calling for much tighter regulations on the sale of e-cigarettes. With Stoptober still having almost a fortnight to run, it could be wise for smokers to try and quit smoking for good with smoking cessation treatment, such as Pfizer’s Champix. This can mimic the effect of nicotine on the body, reduce the urge to smoke, and even lessen the enjoyment of cigarettes if you do give-in to willpower and smoke whilst on the treatment. It is available today from Medical Specialists® Pharmacy from the drastically lowered price of as little as £27.48* per pack
(*based on a private prescription price).

Cancer patients could be more nicotine dependent with e-cigarettes

A new study into e-cigarettes has put further fuel onto the fire about just how useful a tool they are in helping smokers successfully quit smoking, after researchers found cancer patients who used c-cigs to try and stop smoking actually ended up more addicted to nicotine.

The findings have been published online by the journal Cancer, and will undoubtedly spark further doubts regarding the devices  that have come under scrutiny from the World Health Organisation in recent years, who want tighter regulations on them and a banning of them being used indoors.

The new study was conducted by researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York City, who assessed 1,074 cancer patients who were smokers and that had signed up to stop smoking schemes at cancer centre’s between 2012 and 2013.

The researchers discovered a three-fold rise in e-cigarette use from 2012 to 2013 – increasing from 10.6% to 38.5%.

When the patients’ enrolled into the smoking programme, the researchers determined that those also using e-cigarettes were more dependent on nicotine compared to those not using them, had tried to quit smoking on more occasions, and had a higher risk of developing cancer of the lungs, head, or neck.

During a follow-up assessment, it was found that seven-day abstinence rates were comparable with both e-cigarette users and non-users. Researchers found rates of 44.4% for e-cigarette users and 43.1% for non-users. By the time the study came to a conclusion, those using e-cigarettes were just as likely as non-users to be smoking regular cigarettes.

Dr Jamie Ostroff, lead researcher said: “Consistent with recent observations of increased e-cigarette use in the general population, our findings illustrate that e-cigarette use among tobacco-dependent cancer patients has increased within the past two years.”

She admitted further studies would be needed due to limitations with this one, saying: “Controlled research is needed to evaluate the potential harms and benefits of e-cigarettes as a potential cessation approach for cancer patients. In the meantime, oncologists should advise all smokers to quit smoking traditional combustible cigarettes, encourage use of FDA-approved cessation medications, refer patients for smoking cessation counselling, and provide education about the potential risks and lack of known benefits of long-term e-cigarette use.”

One such smoking cessation treatment is Pfizer’s highly popular Champix, of which Medical Specialists® Pharmacy have been inundated with requests for recently in the run up to Stoptober on 1 October.

Stoptober is an annual campaign run by Public Health England, which challenges all smokers to abstain for 28 days. The idea for 28 days of no smoking is that it is believed smokers are 5 times more likely to stop smoking if they can last the duration of the challenge. Keep checking the Medical Specialists® website for more information about Stoptober in the run up to it, including more to get involved and support available for smokers looking to quit.

Fear of weight gain preventing smokers from quitting

Most people are in agreement that smoking is bad. There are thousands of toxic chemicals contained within just a single cigarette that can cause a variety of different types of cancer and heart disease, not to mention the soaring cost of actually buying the cigarettes at a time of financial struggle in Britain.

However, a new study suggests some people are forgetting how dangerous smoking is to themselves and those around them (via secondhand smoke) and are reluctant to quit smoking due to fear of piling on weight after they have stopped. Nicotine serves as an appetite suppressant, so after quitting smoking it is fairly normal for your appetite to increase and nicotine also raises your metabolic rate – heavy smokers can burn as many as 200 extra calories per day.

Researchers from the Penn State College of Medicine assessed 186 smokers that had sought help for quitting smoking – determined by their involvement in a smoking cessation treatment study – and 102 smokers that were not interested in treatment, avoiding the treatment study altogether. Each smoker went through at least five cigarettes on a daily basis.

Participants were quizzed by the researchers about any previous attempts they had made to quit smoking, any instances they had done so and put weight on, and if they were worried about gaining weight if they successfully stopped smoking in the near future.

Fear of gaining weight was equal amongst the two groups but previous episodes of weight gain appeared to impact the urge of the smokers to seek treatment again after this.

Around half of those involved in the study had put weight on when trying to quit smoking and the same people were more likely to not bother attempting to seek smoking treatment again.

Those behind the study say that patients should receive more help from doctors and be asked about their experience with weight fluctuations as well as reassure the patient there are weight management ideas that can be included in their treatment for stopping smoking.

This worrying trend of smokers continuing their habit due to the fear of gaining weight is clearly an issue that needs tackling. Despite their being an abundance of benefits to be had from stopping smoking, few want to trade in a nicotine addiction for a food addiction.

However, rest assure that not everybody gains weight after they have kicked cigarettes into touch. You are more at risk if you are a heavy smoker, a heavy drinker or are already overweight. Those that do gain a few pounds need not panic too much as there are strategies you can undergo to help you control your weight.

For instance, regular exercising may help to avert half the expected weight in the initial year after stopping smoking. By gradually building up to around 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise each week (fast walking, cycling or swimming) this will help to burn off calories and keep the cigarette cravings to a minimum.

Smoking cessation medications such as Pfizer’s Champix can also help tremendously, actually doubling your chances of successfully stopping smoking and can help to limit weight gain in the first few months.

Asthma and premature births down 10% thanks to the smoking ban

The ban of smoking in public places has helped to reduce premature births and severe child childhood asthma attacks by 10%, according to research from Europe and the United States and published in the medical journal Lancet.

“Our research shows that smoking bans are an effective way to protect the health of our children,” said Jasper Been of the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Population Health Sciences, who led the study.

He says their findings should hopefully result in anti-smoking laws being implemented in those cities, countries and districts that do not currently have such restrictions in place.

The smoking ban was introduced in England in 2007, making it illegal to smoke in all enclosed public places such as restaurants, nightclubs, bars, restaurants and shopping centres. The ban has previously been shown to be highly effective at protecting people from the serious health problems associated with passive (secondhand) smoking, with a 5% drop in asthma hospital emergencies in the years following the ban.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) say tobacco is responsible for the deaths of six million people around the world annually. Over 600,000 of these deaths are not even people who smoke, but those who have died due to heavy exposure to secondhand smoke. Health experts have predicted the worldwide death toll will rise to eight million by 2030 if current trends are kept up.

According to WHO, alarmingly there is just 16% of the world’s population that feel the benefits of being protected by comprehensive smoke-free laws, with a shocking 40% of children around the world being regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.

The new research in the Lancet, involved researchers from the University of Edinburgh, Maastricht University, Hasselt University in Belgium, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital analysing data from over 2.5 million births and around 250,000 hospital visits in relation to asthma attacks and is the first comprehensive study assess exactly how anti-smoking legislation has impacted children’s health.

Co-author Professor Aziz Sheikh, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts, and the University of Edinburgh, says there is still a huge opportunity to improve the health of more children around the world.

“The many countries that are yet to enforce smoke-free legislation should in the light of these findings reconsider their positions on this important health policy question.”

There has never been a better time to quit smoking than now following a massive price reduction on a wide range of products and medications, and this includes the smoking cessation treatment Champix. For example, an online consultation for the Champix starter pack was £75, but this has now come down to just £38.95.For those already in possession of a private prescription, the price is even lower, at just £27.48!

Smokers encouraged to quit for No Smoking Day on 12 March

Medical Specialists Pharmacy is proudly supporting the next annual No Smoking Day, which will be taking place on 12 March 2014. Whether it is for this yearly awareness day, month-long campaigns such as ‘Stoptober’, for a New Year’s Resolution, or any other particular occasion, basically there is always a good reason to quit smoking today, not way in the future.

No Smoking Day is being pioneered by the British Heart Foundation, who understand not everybody can go ‘cold turkey’ and suddenly quit smoking for good instantly, but they are encouraging smokers to quit at least just for this one day to prove to themselves they can do it. It is hoped this one day smoke free will increase their motivation to quit for good in the long-run; this can be achieved with the help of smoking cessation medication such as Champix.

Now is the perfect time to quit as Medical Specialists Pharmacy have just drastically reduced the price of Champix to its lowest ever price! Prices have been reduced by as much as a whopping 50%. For instance, an online consultation for the Champix starter pack was £75, but this has now come down to just £38.95! For those already with a private prescription, the price is even lower, at a mere £27.48.

Everyone may have their own personal reasons for wanting to give up smoking. In the current financial climate, paying almost £10 for a packet of cigarettes is simply not feasible, with food and bills obviously much more important. For others, quitting could be part of a much wider plan to become healthier and include increasing exercise, eating better, etc.

A packet of 20 cigarettes can set you back around £7-£8, so the average 20-a-day smoker could suddenly have an extra £56 in their pocket each week. Wondering what to spend all that extra cash on? If you are spending £7 each day on your smoking habit, here’s what else you could be spending your money on:

1 day (£7): Two movie rentals or a new lipstick.
1 week (£49): A family cinema trip or a meal for two.
1 month (£210): A shopping spree or premiership football tickets.
3 months (£630): A new laptop or the latest flat screen TV.
6 months (£1,260): A leather suite or a home cinema.
1 year (£2,555): A new kitchen or a holiday of a lifetime.

If all that wasn’t music to your ears, you will feel extra money in your pocket in other ways. You will now suddenly find that life, home and car insurance will now be cheaper because you are a non-smoker.

It is worth remembering that you and everybody around you will reap the massive benefits from you stopping smoking. Your friends and family will no longer be inhaling second-hand smoke and having their health badly impacted too and for you personally, this is what you can look forward to in the forthcoming 12 months after stopping smoking:

20 minutes

Your heart rate and blood pressure return to a normal level.

8 hours

Oxygen levels return to normal as the nicotine and carbon monoxide begin to leave your body.

24 hours

Mucus and other smoking debris is cleared from the lungs.

48 hours

Nicotine should have been removed from your body by this stage and your sense of smell and taste are boosted.

2 – 12 weeks

Breathing improves and you find exercising is easier.

3 – 9 months

Any coughs, wheezing and breathing problems are reduced as your lungs repair.

1 year

You now have half the risk of coronary heart disease than that of a smoker.

If you want to get involved with No Smoking Day you can visit here or here to download the huge and informative campaign handbook which has details about the history of the day, what is included in the ‘V for Victory’ kit and advice for schools, employers and much more. On the downloads page of the British Heart Foundation website you can even see the smoking percentage statistics for your specific town and compare this against other regions within the United Kingdom.

Under-18s to be banned from buying e-cigarettes

The government has announced it is pressing ahead with plans to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to those under the age of 18.

E-cigarettes are used by around 1.3 million people in the UK, intended to resemble a traditional cigarette. Liquid nicotine is converted into a mist, or vapour, that the user inhales – simulating the process of smoking. As the devices emit a smoke-like water vapour, this has led to the term ‘vaping’ being commonly referred to for their use.

Smoking rates have dropped, but there are huge concerns that the e-cigarettes could be helping to encourage youngsters to begin smoking who previously never had, critics arguing they are a gateway to nicotine addiction and there needs to be further research into the impact on our health.

“We do not yet know the harm that e-cigarettes can cause to adults let alone to children, but we do know they are not risk- free,” England’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies commented in a statement.

She continued: “E-cigarettes can produce toxic chemicals and the amount of nicotine and other chemical constituents and contaminants, including vaporised flavourings, varies between products – meaning they could be extremely damaging to young people’s health.”

The fact remains though that they have become so popular that some are under the belief the market for e-cigarettes could grow bigger than that for traditional cigarettes. Last year mark consultant Euromonitor estimated the global market for e-cigarettes to be worth over $2 billion (£1.2 billion).

The banning of the sale of e-cigarettes to under-18s will be introduced as early as next week as an amendment to the Children and Families Bill. In a further crackdown on smoking, ministers are also formulating plans to stop adults purchasing regular cigarettes for under-18s.

Any adults found guilty of disobeying this particular law may be hit with a £50 fixed penalty notice or could be fined up to an amount of £2,500.

The laws follow Department of Health statistics showing 41% of 15-year-olds who smoke admit to acquiring their cigarettes from others instead of trying to purchase them from a shop.

Furthermore, an incredible 95% of 11 – 15-year-olds who smoke say someone else has bought cigarettes for them from a shop in the previous year.

Public Health Minister and Conservative MP Jane Ellison said: “Two thirds of smokers say they smoked regularly before they were 18, showing that this is an addiction largely taken up in childhood. We must do all we can to help children lead a healthy life. That’s why this measure is designed to help protect children from the dangers of being bought cigarettes by irresponsible adults – something that I hope concerned parents and responsible retailers will welcome.”

It seems completely quitting smoking altogether and not just reverting to e-cigarettes would be the safest option for smokers. Fortunately, Medical Specialists Pharmacy is able to help you quit smoking with the aid of the smoking cessation medication Champix, which mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment.

Website showing ghastly effects of smoking is launched as Stoptober enters final week

As we enter the final seven days of the Stoptober challenge, Medical Specialists Pharmacy would like to say a huge well done to the thousands of you who have made it this far and good luck in your quest to hopefully remain smoke-free for the rest of 2013 and beyond!

Stoptober is basically just October…without the cigarettes! Health experts say that if you stop smoking for 28 days you are in fact five times more likely to actually remain smoke-free for good!

Almost 21,000 followers have been amassed on the Stoptober Twitter page, as fellow smokers encourage each other on through the month.  In addition to helping each other with words of encouragement, smokers can still receive their free support pack as well as regular text messages that help to keep you focused, daily emails packed full of useful tips and advice, and there is even an interactive mobile app for iPhone and Android smartphones.

If you still need reasons or motivation to quit, this month has seen the interactive website ‘Tobacco Body’ launched by Finnish doctors in conjunction with the Cancer Society of Finland.

Users can first select the female or male body, and then browse through different areas such as ‘acne’, ‘face’, ‘hair’, etc. to see quite disturbing effects of smoking. It is plainly obvious to see the damage when the healthier non-smoker’s portion of the body is juxtaposed against the post-smoking side.
If it’s not bad enough that looks are severely impacted, smokers are at double the risk of a blood clot and usually have a worsened sex life. Male smokers have decreased blood flow to the penis, and are twice as likely as non-smokers to suffer with erectile dysfunction.

Smokers’ sperm density is also negatively affected, with the toxins in cigarettes diminishing both concentration and mobility of sperm cells in semen, harming the cell’s structure, according to the website.

With regards to skin, the website explains “smokers are more likely to get spots as smoking weakens the circulation which increases the risk of infection. It also make acne more difficult to deal with.”
Women smokers may not be aware of this fact, but the site also describes that smoking can actually cause hair growth on the face and arms as smoking increases levels of the male hormone, testosterone. However, there is good news in that acne and excessive hair growth in women can be treated through medications such as Dianette or Yasmin.

One person who is well on the way to permanently stubbing out cigarettes is Mike Wellings, finance director at Great Western Hospital in Swindon.

Mike, a bit fitness fanatic, was finding his stamina being limited because of smoking, saying: “I play lots of sport but I’ve found that smoking really impacts my performance. There’s also the combination of family pressure and health reasons. And, of course, I work in a hospital and it’s important to set an example.”

Like so many who wish to quit smoking, Mike decided to turn to the smoking cessation medication Champix to get him through Stoptober and beyond.

He explained: He said: “I actually started the course on the Sunday before Stoptober started. I used to smoke about 20 a day and now it’s gone down to about three. Champix makes it taste disgusting. And I’ve been drinking lots of fluids to combat the cravings too. I’ve been smoking for nearly 30 years. I tried quitting before, about four years ago when I was in Doncaster, and I managed to stop for three months. Then one day work got the better of me and I had a cigarette.  Everyone has been really supportive this time. I’m taking it just one day at a time.”

If you are a smoker who is aged 18 or above and wants to quit, you can quit today with the help of Medical Specialists Pharmacy. You can obtain the smoking cessation medication Champix following an online consultation with one of Medical Specialists’ GMC registered doctors. Champix works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack and mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, and as Mike Wellings discovered, decreases the enjoyment of smoking if you decide to have a cigarette whilst on the treatment.

Smokers are encouraged to join the Stoptober challenge

For the second consecutive year, the anti-smoking campaign ‘Stoptober’ will be running and aimed at encouraging smokers to quit smoking for 28 days in October.

Public Health England (PHE) is behind the campaign which begins on October 1^st and promotion for it has already begun across England and Wales. PHE state that 2012’s challenge was an overwhelming success, with over 275,000 people registering for last year’s Stoptober, of which 160,000 managed to finish the 28 day challenge.

The 28 day time length for the challenge is not simply an arbitrary number; health experts say that a smoker who quits for 28 days, and abstains from cigarettes, could add a week onto their lifespan, every 28 days, for the rest of their life.

The benefits to stopping smoking


Those who quit usually experience physical improvements such as a better sense of taste and smell, more energy, a delayed onset of facial aging and wrinkles, whiter teeth, fresher breath and better sex due to improved blood flow and stronger erections for men.
In the longer term, those who quit smoking can significantly reduce the risk of suffering from heart disease and a wide range of cancers such as lung cancer, on top of preserving the health of those around you as there will now be no secondhand smoke.

England’s chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, said: “One in two long-term smokers die as a result of smoking, this is the single biggest cause of premature death taking more than 100,000 lives in the UK and costing the NHS up to £2.7 billion each year. Life is precious and Stoptober is all about supporting and encouraging each other to quit – potentially adding years to your life. Taking part in the challenge is a first step to a longer and healthier life, so have a go by stopping with Stoptober.”

Professor Kevin Fenton, director of health and wellbeing at Public Health England, added: “Campaigns such as Stoptober, along with the support provided by local stop smoking services, play a huge role in helping people to stop. Whilst smoking prevalence across the country as a whole is falling steadily, it remains high in some parts. We want every smoker to consider making a quit attempt this October and join the thousands of people who are feeling the benefits from stopping smoking last year.”

However, there are also major monetary benefits to be felt from giving up cigarettes – particularly important when considering how difficult it is for many families in the current financial climate. By quitting smoker, the average smoker can expect to save more than £150 a month and nearly £2,000 a year – if we take £7.77 for the cost price of a packet of cigarettes and an average daily consumption of 13 cigarettes per smoker. Incredibly, it was estimated that during last year’s Stoptober campaign £25 million was saved by 160,000 people from not buying cigarettes.

Those who want to sign up for Stoptober will receive a free stop-smoking pack, a 28-day mobile phone app and text support via daily updates and advice on quitting.

If you are a smoker who is aged 18 or above and wants to quit, you do not need to wait for Stoptober to begin. Quit today with the help of Medical Specialists Pharmacy. You can obtain the smoking cessation medication Champix following an online consultation with one of Medical Specialists’ GMC registered doctors. Champix works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack and mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment.

Los Angeles crackdown on counterfeit Viagra and Cialis

Just miles from the popular Los Angeles International Airport – the airport more commonly known as ‘LAX’ and used by countless celebrities – lays a warehouse and a federal officer sat beside an X-ray machine.

No, the machine is not scanning any passengers’ luggage, but is actually scouring mail for contraband forbidden from entering the United States.  Moving on a belt operating at least three times quicker than your typical airport security scanner, three or four packages at a time are whizzed along and made visible on a monitor to the federal officer.

The packages may include a whole variety of things such as counterfeit clothing, fresh produce, unlawful steroids, children’s toys and Cuban cigars. All have been sent there via the U.S. Postal Service, and, according to federal law, the officer has the power to open anything deemed to be of a suspicious nature.

At airports across the United States such as LAX, ports and border crossings, federal officials are efficient and quick to prevent any drugs from making their way onto the streets. Usually emanating from Central or South America, cocaine and marijuana are common problems for officials – but surprisingly not the biggest problem.

In fact, it is pharmaceutical products which are their biggest issue currently, with counterfeit drugs coming in by their thousands from Asia (usually China). Some of the most copied medications are erectile dysfunction treatments such as Viagra and Cialis, but counterfeiters will produce fakes of anything from cholesterol to cancer drugs. Often the packaging will be so expertly made that it is difficult to separate from the genuine product.

Customs operates within an incredible 38,000 square feet facility in the Los Angeles-area and is one of seven such sites nationwide that is responsible for the scanning of international mail. The site is open for 17 hours a day, seven days a week, and an estimated 1 million to 1½ million pieces of mail are processed each month.

Authorities say that roughly 5% of the mail they scan is ‘problematic’. Most of these dubious packages are containing counterfeit drugs, which are usually dangerous in three ways: either they have too much of the active ingredient, have too little of it or some will have none at all.

Matthew Bassiur, vice president of global security for Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant behind erectile Viagra, Champix, and other popular medications, says: “What patients don’t realize is that if they go online and they purchase from a rogue website — one that’s not legitimate — then they may be playing Russian roulette with their lives. It’s really that simple. The counterfeiters are getting really good at making these look just about identical to the real products. We have to bring it back to our laboratories to test it and find out whether it’s authentic product.”

Large multinational drug corporations like Eli Lilly and Pfizer have spent millions of dollars in the fight against counterfeit drugs and finding those behind such scams that they have teams especially devoted to anti-counterfeiting measures. Joining forces with federal agents and government prosecutors, these teams help to build solid cases against those involved with the production and sale of counterfeit drugs.  Usually, the penalty is severe. In August, a South Korean man who tried to smuggle 40,000 counterfeit erectile dysfunction pills into LAX was sentenced by a federal judge in Los Angeles to 2½ years in prison. The fake pills, including copies of Viagra, Cialis and Levitra, were discovered in a golf bag and other luggage after he had returned to the United States from a trip to China.

If you are a male suffering with erectile dysfunction, safety and peace of mind is assured by obtaining genuine erectile dysfunction medication from a reputable and trusted source such as Medical Specialists Pharmacy. We are fully registered online Pharmacy with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) and the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC), in addition to being a member of the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). Our team of Doctors are registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) and our Pharmacists are registered with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB).

Viagra and other medications for male impotence such as Cialis or Levitra are obtainable with or without a prescription. If you do not have a prescription, you can undergo a private and confidential online consultation with one of our Doctors and if suitable, they will write you a prescription. This is passed to our in-house Pharmacists, and dispensed and dispatched to you at your home, your place of work, or where ever you choose, discreetly within 24 hours.

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.

Smoking rate could soon fall to under 20%

Smoking prevalence amongst adults in England is still steadily declining at approximately 0.5% – 1% each year and will soon be below 20% for the first time in a century, according to an expert involved in an on-going study into the smoking rate across England.

The proportion of smokers in England was just 20.1% in 2011; when annual results from the survey were last published. Barring any unlikely change to the trend, rates are set to drop under the ‘psychologically significant’ 20% mark.

Professor Robert West, from University College London, who co-heads the Smoking Toolkit Study, said: “2013 is going to be, almost without doubt, the first year for a hundred years where we’re solidly below 20% smoking prevalence in England. It’s going to be a big year. We are making progress. It’s slow, and we’d like it to be quicker, but things are going in the right direction.”

The Smoking Toolkit Study analyses the smoking habits of people over the age of 16 each month, with data being made available online. Information is also obtained by researchers via household surveys from almost 2,000 people.

According to the survey, average smoking prevalence across England currently stands at 19.1%, with obvious discrepancies between demographics.

For instance, with regards to the socio-economic scale, only around 13% of people are smokers in the upper and middle A, B and C1 social brackets. However, over a quarter of people smoke in the C2, D and E groups.

Professor West is almost certain that the overall yearly figure will fall to under 20%. He says: “It’s looking very promising. We’re at a psychologically significant point. My guess is that the publicity around it will help to stop even more people smoking.”

Over 100,000 people die each year due to a smoking-related disease, and tobacco use is still the single biggest cause of preventable death.

Smoking surveys were first formulated back in 1948 when a staggering 82% of men in the UK were smokers. During the 1970s to 1990s, smoking prevalence decreased dramatically and a slow decline is continuing in the present day.

Professor West believes long-term reduction in smoking rates will not suddenly come to a halt anytime soon. “We don’t see that happening in England,” he said. “The decline now is between about 0.5 and one percentage point a year, which is a pretty decent rate. There’s no evidence that it’s plateauing.”

Reasons for the decline were probably down to a number of factors he said such as the price of tobacco regularly being increased by the government, media campaigns and services available to help smokers quit.

Quit smoking with the help of Medical Specialists Pharmacy and reduce the risk of developing a smoking-related disease. You can obtain Champix today following an online consultation with one of our GMC registered doctors. It works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack. Champix mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment.

Quitting smoking – not ‘cutting down’ – improves life expectancy

Do you think you are being healthy by cutting down on cigarettes? Think again…New research suggests that smokers who merely cut down on their smoking instead of actually fully quitting, are unlikely to extend their lifespan.

The claims emerge from a huge study conducted by researchers from both Glasgow and Stirling Universities, spanning an incredible four decades.

Approximately 5,200 smokers from Scotland’s ‘central belt’ were involved in two smoking studies from the early 1970s. Despite the name, the central belt is not exactly central Scotland, but is actually the Scottish Highlands to the north and the Southern Uplands to the south; the area of highest population density in Scotland.

The participants were then asked about their smoking habits several years later. For instance, about whether they had managed to quit, had reduced how many cigarettes they smoked daily, or kept a similar level of smoking habit up, or even increased.

Data was compiled between the 1970s and 2010, documenting each death during this time from those in the two studies. The researchers noted that people who had successfully stopped smoking had lower mortality rates in comparison to those who had kept up the deadly habit. Moreover, there was no massive difference discovered in mortality rates between the smokers who had cut down their intake and those who had not.

Professor Linda Bauld, one of the report’s authors from Stirling University, commented: “Our results support the view that reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke is not a reliable way of improving your health in the long term. However, what we do now know is that it may have a valuable role as a step toward giving up altogether, through cutting down to quit, an approach that has been recommended in recent guidance in the UK.”

The findings however do not correlate with a similar long-term study conducted in Israel, whereby the results seemed to suggest that decreasing the number of cigarettes smoked can reduce mortality rates, although the results of the Scottish study back up the findings from larger studies of a shorter time period carried out in Denmark and Norway.

Regardless though, what we can be certain of is that smoking is an incredibly dangerous habit for long-term health reduces your lifespan by many years and can impact those around you via secondhand smoke. Medical Specialists Pharmacy and almost every other health body across the world advise smokers to quit smoking rather than just ‘cutting down’. One cigarette per day is still one too many in many people’s eyes.

Let’s not forget that smoking is directly the cause of numerous types of cancer, stroke and heart attacks, can cause male impotence, is terrible for the skin, but the habit is an incredibly expensive one to have to maintain.

The British Heart Foundation have listed the staggering amount of money that can be saved over the duration of a year by giving up smoking, in addition to more appealing things that the cash can be spent on.

They say the financial gains of stopping smoking are:

1 day (£7): Two movie rentals or a new lipstick.
1 week (£49): A family cinema trip or a meal for two.
1 month (£210): A shopping spree or premiership football tickets.
3 months (£630): A new laptop or the latest flat screen TV.
6 months (£1,260): A leather suite or a home cinema.
1 year (£2,555): A new kitchen or a holiday of a lifetime.

Medical Specialists Pharmacy is able to help you quit smoking with the aid of the smoking cessation medication Champix, meaning you will both protect your health and save huge amounts of money in the future as the government continually look to raise tobacco prices.

Champix mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment. The medication equates to just £75.00 per pack – inexpensive in comparison to the £2,555 you can save over a year by quitting smoking!

Fear of impotence and wrinkles drive smokers to quit

Here is some basic information about some of the numerous dangers of smoking:

. Scientists say that the average smoker will lose 14 years of their life because of smoking.
. Smokers are twice as likely to suffer from a heart attack in comparison to their non-smoking counterparts.
. Smoking has been proven to be directly responsible for many types of cancer including: throat, lung, kidney, bladder, stomach, liver and cervix.
. Smoking accounts for 71% of all lung cancer deaths.

Now, you’d be forgiven for thinking these reasons alone would be enough of a deterrent for smoking and perhaps persuade current smokers into quitting smoking to improve their long-term health.

New research would suggest however this isn’t the case at all and it is in fact vanity/self-preservation motivations that are the reasons behind people kicking the deadly habit into touch rather than the worry of a premature death.  Indeed, there still remains an estimated 10 million Brits who are addicted to smoking, which should not be the case when there is smoking cessation medication available such as Champix that can help them quit for good, saving potentially thousands of pounds a year and adding years onto their life.

Despite the government’s best efforts to get people to stop smoking via steep increases in cigarette taxation and increasingly more graphic warnings and images being plastered on cigarette packets, for men it is the worry of impotency and a loss of sex drive that urges them to quit smoking.  Whilst it would seem women are concerned about cigarettes accelerating the aging process and giving them wrinkles, laugh lines and dreaded ‘crow’s feet’.

Stirling University’s Brian Williams, professor of Behavioural & Health Services Research, commented on his team’s research, saying: “Eight out of ten smokers want to quit. Targeting groups with images of issues that relate directly to their own concerns can have most effect. If we know one brand has a certain market – among say women – it would allow us to design images that were tailored to that particular demographic, say on looks or fertility. It is what advertisers do as well.”

Professor Williams and colleagues scrutinised answers given from around 19,000 people who completed a UK-wide online survey about their thoughts/reactions to graphic images printed on cigarette packaging.

It was found that there were three particular images that struck a chord with respondents due to their shock factor. A neck tumour image was found to be the most powerful, with 80% admitting this had affected them. Second was diseased teeth at 77%, and diseased lungs was third most powerful, with 72% saying this had upset them.

Interestingly, researchers observed that particular images seemed to have a bigger impact on certain age and gender groups differently than others.

For instance, the study found that female smokers were considerably more affected by all three images regarding aging in comparison to male counterparts. Images related to pregnancy and children also had a bigger impact on women compared to the male smokers.

The study report added: “Men were consistently more affected by the images relating to sexual performance/impotence. Images relating to heart and lung disease as a consequence of smoking were most effective amongst over-50s. Students and professionals were more affected by cosmetic issues than those who were unemployed or retired, possibly due to the impact of damage to their appearance caused by smoking. Most of the images relating to fertility, impotence and pregnancy > had a significantly greater effect on the 16-39 age group. The closer the characteristics of both the narrative and visual > forms match those of the viewer the greater the likely impact on risk representations.”

The report concluded: “This suggests that, as specific images have a more persuasive effect on particular groups, it may be worth considering a targeted approach to anti-smoking messages, placing appropriate images on brands known to be purchased by young, adult and older smokers.”
Professor Williams believes that smokers may not quit with shock tactics alone. He said: “What we are missing at the moment is images and messages on cigarette packets that encourage people to take the next step; that it is possible to give up.”

Seeing 10 smoking ads can increase the risk of teen smoking by 40%

Tobacco adverts run the risk of persuading teenagers to start smoking according to researchers behind a new study published in the online only journal BMJ Open.
 
Researchers from The Institute for Therapy and Health Research in Germany, claim that by just seeing 10 adverts for tobacco, this can increase risk of youngsters picking up the deadly habit.
The claims emanate from the researcher’s findings from a two and a half year period where they closely tracked over 1,300 non-smoking 10 to 15-year-olds, specifically monitoring the teenager’s exposure to tobacco advertising and their subsequent behaviour.

Whilst tobacco advertising to the public is completely outlawed in the United Kingdom due to the Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act 2002, in Germany tobacco advertising on billboards is still permitted. In addition, tobacco smoking in Germany is still advertised in certain magazines, during sporting events, and in petrol stations.  Television and radio advertising for such products however is banned.

The German researchers began monitoring the teenagers – selected from public schools in three separate regions of Germany – in 2008. They were quizzed on how often they had seen certain advertisements, which included those of Germany’s top six most popular cigarette brands as well as eight more non-tobacco products. These included mobile phones, cars, clothes and chocolate.

In 2011, after 30 months had passed, the teenagers were asked the same questions as before. They were also asked about if they had smoked in the previous two and a half years, and if so, how often.
It was discovered that around a third of the study participants (406 in total) had tried smoking in this time frame, in addition to one in 10 (138) admitting they had smoked in the month leading up to the present day.

Moreover, of the 1,300 teenagers, one in 20 (66) stated they had smoked their way through over 100 cigarettes – determined as being ‘established’ smokers by the researchers. Worryingly, 58 of those teenagers said they now smoked every day. A third of those were younger than 14 years of age and only a quarter were at least 16-years-old. The minimum legal age to purchase cigarette or tobacco products in Germany is 18. In comparison, it is illegal to sell tobacco to anybody under the age of 18 in England and Wales but the minimum age for consumption in public is 16.

When the exposure to the different types of advertisements were compared, the non-tobacco products were seen a lot more. However, almost half in the study had seen one particular cigarette advert at least once, whilst 13% had seen the ad over 10 times.

The researchers took into account common influences for picking up the habit and then determined that exposure to tobacco advertising was second only to peer-pressure for beginning to smoke for the first time.

The teens who had seen the most tobacco-related advertisements (11 to 55 times in total) had around the double the chance of becoming either an established or daily smoker in comparison to those who had seen on average the least amount (between 0 to 2.5).

It was calculated that there was a 38% increase of the teenagers becoming ‘established’ smokers for each extra 10 viewings of a tobacco ad and were 30% more likely to become daily smokers compared with the same number of sightings for adverts promoting non-tobacco products.

The authors concluded: “Only exposure to tobacco advertisements predicted smoking initiation, which cannot be attributed to a general receptiveness to marketing.”

If you would like to quit smoking, Medical Specialists Pharmacy can help you do this as we offer the smoking cessation medication Champix for suitable patients.

Champix is not recommended for use in children or adolescents below 18 years of age, however smokers over this age can benefit from the medication, which works to mimic the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you succumb to the urge and have a cigarette whilst on the treatment. The medication equates to just £75.00 per pack – inexpensive compared to an estimated £2,555 you could save each year by quitting smoking!

All you have to do is complete the simple four-step online consultation and if approved by one of our Doctors, they will write a prescription that will be dispensed by our in-house pharmacy team, dispatched to you at your home, place of work, or where ever you choose, discreetly within 24 hours!*

*Allow extra time for overseas deliveries.

Crackdown on e-cigarettes: Stricter regulations announced

In three years’ time The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) will begin to regulate e-cigarettes as medicines when new European-wide tobacco laws are due to be introduced.

The MHRA have confirmed from 2016, cigarette manufacturers will face much stricter regulations than previously, being forced to adhere to strict safety standards or risk their products being banned.
E-cigarettes contain nicotine, which can be highly addictive and may even cause heart problems.

However, there are no harmful chemicals that are contained in regular tobacco cigarettes such as carbon dioxide and tar. The decision, announced yesterday by the MHRA, will cover all products currently on the market that contain nicotine.

Along with smoking cessation medication such as Pfizer’s Champix, e-cigarettes have increased in popularity over recent years and there are an estimated 1.3million users just in the UK alone. The battery-powered devices are designed to resemble a real cigarette, but do not require any match or flame to be smoked.

Liquid nicotine is converted into a mist, or vapour, that the user inhales – simulating the process of smoking. As the devices emit a smoke-like water vapour, this has led to the term ‘vaping’ being commonly referred to for their use.

E-cigarettes that are deemed fit for purpose and pass the new safety standards will then be available to obtain on prescription from the NHS as an aid for stopping smoking.

From 2016, smokers eager to quit will still be able to get their e-cigarettes over the counter in supermarkets and newsagents, however manufacturers will now have to apply for a licence beforehand and will be prohibited at advertising any products judged to be targeted at under-16s.
Currently there are chocolate and bubble-gum-flavoured products being sold, but by 2016 it is unlikely these would be licensed. Some argue those particular flavoured-products are merely a ‘gateway to smoking’ for youngsters, and risk helping them to smart smoking when otherwise they wouldn’t.

The debate regarding the pros and cons of e-cigarettes is one that will not go away anytime soon. Previously, health experts have voiced their opinions that millions of lives could be saved if smokers switched to e-cigarettes.

However, unlike regular cigarettes due to the smoking ban, the electronic devices are permitted to be smoked in public places such as bars, restaurants and public transport. There are those who believe this is ‘normalising’ something which is now generally viewed as unacceptable.

Speaking yesterday after the news was announced of the proposed regulations, Jeremy Mean, group manager of vigilance and risk management of medicines at the MHRA, said: “Reducing the harms of smoking to smokers and those around them is a key government health priority. Our research has shown that existing electronic cigarettes and other nicotine-containing products on the market are not good enough to meet this public health priority. Some NCPs (nicotine-containing products) are already licensed and the government’s decision to work towards medicines licensing for all these products is designed to deliver quality products that will support smokers to cut down and to quit. The decision announced today provides a framework that will enable good quality products to be widely available. It’s not about banning products that some people find useful, it’s about making sure that smokers have an effective alternative that they can rely on to meet their needs.”

Whether people can completely rely on e-cigarettes though remains to be seen. In the past experts have stated that users of the products cannot be guarantee of the purity of the nicotine contained inside them and MHRA research has discovered that amounts of nicotine can be ‘considerably different’ from the level printed on the label, casting doubt on exactly how useful the products are to those who are trying to cut down or stop smoking, a MHRA spokesman said.

The previously mentioned smoking cessation medication Champix is a drug which contains no nicotine and works by stimulating the nicotine receptors in the brain, thereby reducing craving and withdrawal symptoms you may experience when stopping smoking. In addition, Champix can also reduce the enjoyment of cigarettes if you do smoke when on the treatment. Champix is available today from Medically Specialists Pharmacy from as little as just £75.00 per pack, a small price to protect your long-term health.

Ministers in Wales abolish plans to permit smoking on film sets

Proposals that would have seen the smoking ban relaxed in Wales to permit actors to smoke in film or TV sets have been scrapped following a review of the arguments for and against it by ministers.
An alteration to the provisions of the 2007 smoking ban would resulted in performers being excluded from the ban in particular circumstances, but health leaders heavily criticised the potential exemptions, arguing it could be setting a dangerous precedent.

Wales, just like England, has a smoking ban in place that applies to enclosed public places such as bars, restaurants and in the workplace. After the law was passed in 2007, coalition ministers in Wales specifically made sure that the regulations also extended to actors smoking on set.

Assembly Members were due to vote on an amendment to the smoking law at the end of last year, but the vote never took place – largely because of a lack of support from Assembly Members.
Yesterday’s decision to abolish the plan though has been met with relief and joy by many anti-smoking campaigners and politicians.

Elen de Lacy, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in Wales said: “We are delighted that plans to dilute the smoking ban in Wales have been dropped by the Welsh Government. The smoking ban has always been about protecting public health and all workers in Wales have a right to be protected from the harm of second-hand smoke, wherever they work. The film and TV industry’s demands have rightly been thrown out and we hope they never make these demands again. This decision sends a firm message to all industries who want to challenge our legislation, including the tobacco industry, that our values on public health are not for sale.”

The main calls for a relaxation in the smoking law came from BBC Wales, who had warned about an inadvertent impact to the economy in Wales if changes were not made. They argue that productions could withdraw from Wales and instead switch to England where such exemptions already exist – ergo bypassing the more restrictive Welsh law.

Changes to the law in Wales were being taken into consideration by two Assembly committees. Providing her case to the smoking sub-committee, BBC Wales’ head of productions Clare Hudson claimed that losing one particular drama would potentially cost Wales up to £12m.

However, Health Minister Professor Mark Drakeford was a staunch opponent of the planned amendments to the smoking legislation. After taking up his position in March, one of his first aims was to stop any changes being made.

Shattering BBC Wales’ hopes, Prof Drakeford released a statement yesterday saying: “Prior to them being debated it was announced that the Enterprise and Business Committee and the Health and Social Care Committee of the Assembly would take evidence from all interested parties on this matter, with a view to producing a final report on their conclusions. The minister for economy, science and transport and I have reviewed the evidence presented to the sub-committees to date, and have concluded that the government will not proceed with the original proposals at this time.”

Plaid Cymru health spokeswoman Elin Jones was delighted with the news, commenting: “It was clear from the evidence given to the committee that creating an exemption from the ban was not justified on health or economic grounds. Reducing smoking must remain one of the priorities for the Health Minister. Banning smoking in public places has been a great success and we believe that there are further measures that the Welsh Government could take to reduce smoking.”

Smoking ban leads to annual 5% drop in asthma hospital emergencies

An annual 5% drop in hospital admissions for asthma patients in England requiring treatment could be attributed to the introduction of the 2007 smoking ban, which made it illegal to smoke in all enclosed public places such as restaurants, nightclubs, bars and shopping centres.

The 5% drop basically means that there are around 1900 fewer asthma-related admissions every year, say the authors of a new study who looked at the number of emergency asthma admissions for adults aged 16 and above in England between the duration of April 1997 and December 2010. Affecting roughly 5.9% of the population, the prevalence of asthma in England stands at one of the largest in the world.

For the study, published in the journal Thorax, Researchers based at the University of Bath discovered that there were a total of 502,000 ‘emergency’ hospital visits due to asthma in this time frame. Unsurprisingly, with cold weather being a trigger for symptoms to flare up, more admissions were evident throughout winter months compared to the summer; however numbers of admissions vastly differed depending on the area of the country.

Researchers took into account factors such as varying seasonal temperatures, differences in population size, and long-term patterns in regards to the prevalence of asthma. After considering all of the aforementioned factors, they discovered that emergency admissions for adults with asthma decreased by 4.9% during each of the first three years after the 2007 smoking ban, with a similar percentage decline in all geographical regions of England.

Dr Michelle Sims, author of the paper, said the benefits of the anti-smoking legislation were clear to see, commenting: “Secondhand smoke exposure has significant adverse health effects on the adult respiratory system with current evidence suggesting that it contributes to the onset and exacerbation of asthma. There is already evidence that smoke free legislation in England is associated with reductions in second hand smoke exposure among non-smoking adults and fewer emergency hospital admissions for heart attacks and childhood asthma. Our findings show that these health benefits extend to adult asthma.”

Emily Humphreys, head of policy and public affairs at the charity Asthma UK, said: “Eight out of 10 people with asthma tell us that other people’s smoke makes their asthma worse. That’s why we campaigned for the smoke-free laws and are delighted to see evidence of the benefits these are having on the millions of people with asthma in England. By taking action to reduce asthma triggers, we can prevent asthma attacks that can lead to hospitalisation and even death. However, more still needs to be done to prevent attacks, which kill three people each day in the UK.”

This new study is interesting and certainly highlights how cigarette smoke and asthma can be strongly connected. The findings follow that of a separate study which Medical Specialists Pharmacy reported back in January. Conducted by a team at Imperial College London, that particular study looked at admission rates spanning back to April 2002 and found an incredible 12% decline in childhood asthma hospital admissions during the first 12 months after the ban. This was calculated by taking into account a predicted 2.2% rise annually – and a decline continued in subsequent years with 3.4% fall per year for the next two years.

Asthma is a serious condition that is only worsened by exposure to cigarette smoke. Medical Specialists Pharmacy advise you to immediately quit smoking if you or a loved one also suffers from asthma, and we are able to help you achieve this with the aid of the smoking cessation medication Champix.

Champix mimics the effect of nicotine on the body, reducing the urge to smoke and relieving withdrawal symptoms. It can also decrease the enjoyment you experience of smoking if you are still smoking whilst on the treatment. The medication equates to just £75.00 per pack – inexpensive compared to an estimated £2,555 you can save each year by quitting smoking!

Alternatively, visit the ‘Asthma and Allergies’ area of the Medical Specialists website for a full list of all the preventer and reliever inhalers we provide for suitable patients.