Quit smoking for 15 years…and it could be like you had never smoked!

All smokers take note: new research has shown that those successfully quit smoking for a sustained period of 15 years, can massively decrease the chance of suffering with heart failure or even dying.

U.S. Scientists made the remarkable discovery that people who stopped smoking almost two decades previously, had a comparable risk to those that had never smoked before.

Despite the findings clearly being a positive for all smokers across the globe, heavier smokers – i.e. those that had gone through at least a packet of cigarettes each day for 32 years or more – still had a slightly increased risk of health problems.

However, lead researcher Dr Ali Ahmed, from the Washington DC VA Medical Center, is pretty clear with the message…people either need to cut down on their smoking, stop smoking as early as they can, or simply never start smoking.

He commented: “While all individuals who quit smoking will benefit from a decreased chance of death, to achieve the full complement of health benefits of smoking cessation of one who has never smoked, smokers need to smoke less and quit early, and for those are not smokers – never start smoking.”

The findings were extracted via the most recent data from the Cardiovascular Health Study, which comprised of 2,556 people that had claimed to never smoked, 629 present smokers and 1,297 previous smokers. Every participant in the study was aged 65 or over, and 312 of the previous smokers admitted to heavy cigarette usage – smoking at least one pack daily for 32 years or more.

After a 13 year follow-up evaluation, the proportion of never smokers and previous smokers who had suffered heart failure, was found to be 21% in both groups. Within the group of former smokers that had consumed one pack per day for at least 32 years, nearly 30% suffered heart failure.

Comparison of mortality risks among present smokers and heavy smokers to never smokers was an interesting find. Researchers accounted for factors such as age, sex, race, education, other health conditions and medications, discovering that present smokers were around twice more likely to die from other diseases in comparison to those that had never smoked, and previous smokers were found to be 26% more likely to die compared to the never smokers.

Dr Ahmed told Reuters: “When one smokes, it induces atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in the arteries. However, when one quits smoking, the buildup of plaque and risk of blood of clots decreases, allowing one’s cardiovascular risk to return to normal over time.”

Atherosclerosis is the medical term used when a person’s arteries have become narrower and harderned, usually caused by a high level of ‘bad’ low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol.
Statins like atorvastatin (Lipitor) and rosuvastatin (Crestor) are currently taken by around 7 million people in Britain, and work to decrease rates of LDL cholesterol by reducing the production of LDL cholesterol inside the liver. It is dangerous to have high rates of LDL cholesterol as this causes the atherosclerosis, resulting in a higher risk of heart attack, stroke and coronary heart disease.

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.

Prescription drugs now taken by nearly half of adults

According to the latest report published by the Health Survey for England by the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), around half of women and 43% of men are now taking prescription medications.

The new study – the first of its kind – probed into our nation’s pill-popping habits, discovering that the most commonly prescribed medicines are cholesterol-lowering statins such as atorvastatin and pravastatin (taken by 16% of men and 12% of women), and drugs for high blood pressure (hypertension) come in at a close second in the most often prescribed drugs list (taken by 14% of men and 15% of women).

The HSCIC report represents the very first nationwide representative assessment of medicines taken by people in the community, as opposed to within the healthcare system. It includes both those on long-term drugs and those taking a short course of antibiotics.

The report states that there were an average of 18.7 prescriptions administered per person in England during 2013, which reportedly sets back the NHS more than £15 billion each year.

Unsurprisingly perhaps, the new figures show that there are generally more prescription drugs taken by people as age increases, with over half of those aged 65 or over taking three or more medicines and over a third aged 75 or over take at least six.

Dr Jennifer Mindell, reader in public health at University College London and one of the authors in the report, argued the statistics should be taken in context due to the fact people are in better health than previous times and generally live longer in the modern day, primarily because of drugs for prevention and treatment of disease.

Dr Mindell commented: “That half of men over 65 are taking cholesterol-lowering medicines reflects the high risk of cardiovascular disease in this group. Stopping smoking, being a healthy weight, eating more vegetables and fruit, and being physically active reduce people’s risk of these diseases, for people who want to avoid taking medicines.”

The figures show that almost a third of prescriptions were for cardiovascular disease, with in excess of 65 million prescriptions given to combat either high blood pressure, heart failure or high cholesterol, but excludes the number of people using contraceptives and smoking cessation products, such as Champix.

The most single prescribed drug was Simvastatin – a cholesterol lowering treatment – with a staggering 40 million prescriptions given, followed by aspirin (31 million).

Antidepressant drugs were found to be taken by over one in 10 women – this is double the figure for men. These types of drugs were often taken by middle-aged women and those from the poorest regions of the country. It was found 17% of the poorest women were on antidepressants compared to 7% of the richest women.

Dr Sarah Jackson, at University College London, said: “It’s well known that rates of depression are much higher among women than men, so I am not surprised to see that antidepressant use follows the same pattern in this study. People with depression are less likely to be in regular employment, and people who are unemployed or in low paid jobs are more likely to have depression.”

In addition, the reported highlighted the fact that overweight and obese people were more probably going to be taking prescription medication, with over half of severely obese people across England taking at least one prescription drug and a third taking at least three.

Sue Faulding, a pharmacist and programme manager of prescribing and primary care services at the HSCIC, commented: “Obesity is often associated with high cholesterol, high blood pressure, joint pain and depression. Lifestyle changes are always recommended in the first instance, but medicines can help to address the symptoms and this study shows that medicine use increases steadily with body mass index.”

Smokers warned they are 45% more at risk of dementia

It isn’t the first time the two have been linked together, but more research has shown a clear association between smoking and the onset of dementia.

Despite the fact anybody can develop the debilitating disease, research released by the World Health Organization (WHO) working together with Alzheimer’s disease International (ADI) has highlighted a link between smoking and dementia risk.

The report warns that smokers are putting themselves at a staggering 45% increased risk of developing dementia compared to non-smokers, and the more someone smokes, the higher the risk goes.

The experts involved in the report believe 14% of all cases of Alzheimer’s cases around the globe are because of smoking and WHO state that even those exposed to second-hand smoke (known as passive smoking) can still have an increased risk of developing dementia.

Shekhar Saxena, director of the Department for Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the WHO, said: “Since there is currently no cure for dementia, public health interventions need to focus on prevention by changing modifiable risk factors like smoking.

“This research shows that a decrease in smoking now is likely to result in a substantial decrease in the burden of dementia in the years to come.”

Serge Gauthier, chair of Alzheimer’s Disease International’s medical scientific advisory panel, added: “The research also shows that quitting smoking later in life might be beneficial so encouraging and supporting current tobacco users to quit should be a priority.”

Doug Brown, director of research and development at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “This shocking estimate that so many cases of Alzheimer’s may be linked to smoking surely means we must count the global burden of the condition alongside the millions of deaths we already know are caused by tobacco.

“With 44 million people worldwide living with dementia, it is now time to rank the condition alongside others like cancer and heart disease when we talk about tackling smoking.

“With no cure yet for dementia, we need more research to gain a better understanding about how lifestyle factors can increase risk and a significant public health effort to attempt to reduce the number of future cases of the condition.”

Dementia is a term used for a group of symptoms that are the result of one of a number of brain diseases, with Alzheimer’s being the most common by far. When somebody develops dementia, it is not only tragic for the affected person, but for all friends and family of that person.

The condition impairs a person’s ability to think, rationalise things and remember. Memory loss is often viewed as the obvious sign of dementia, but there are other signs to look for such as: changes in personality and mood, speech and language difficulty, delusions or hallucinations, wandering or restlessness, depression or anxiety, agitation and balance problems.

The Alzheimer’s Society say there are about 800,000 people in the UK that have dementia. A third of the over-65s will develop dementia, with two thirds of sufferers being women.

As people are now generally living a lot longer, the numbers will only increase. By 2021, there could be as many as 1 million people living in the UK with dementia.

However, people can act now to help lower the risk of developing the disease, such as: engaging in regular exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight, stopping smoking, sticking to a healthy diet and limiting alcohol intake.

Millions more to be prescribed statins to lower cholesterol

New NHS draft guidelines could mean millions more Brits are prescribed cholesterol-lowering statins to stave off heart attacks and strokes.

Current recommendations – implemented back in 2005 – mean that anybody with a 20% or greater chance of developing cardiovascular disease in the following decade are offered statins such as atorvastatin or pravastatin. The risk is calculated using factors such as age, weight, whether the person smokes and if there is a family history of the disease.

However, The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) say the treatment should be broadened to include more people in order to save thousands more lives.  Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the UK, claiming around 180,000 lives annually.

NICE now says that anyone with a risk at one in 10 or 10% should be offered statin medication, resulting in an estimated five million more Brits now taking the drugs, saving 2,000 lives and preventing 10,000 heart attacks or strokes every year.

This is according to Professor Colin Baigent, from the Oxford University team who conducted research published in The Lancet into the potential benefits of statins to more patients, finding the benefits of statins far exceed any side effects.

The new guidelines state doctors will be required to “make a judgment” about their patients with less than a 10% risk of developing cardiovascular disease and advise them accordingly.

NiCE says the draft guidance will make clear doctors need to work with at-risk patients to encourage them to improve lifestyle factors first that could put at risk, such as drinking less, stopping smoking and adhering to a healthy diet.

After these issues have been tended to, the patients should then be offered high intensity statin therapy.

Presently, around seven million people in the UK are currently statins; incredibly this is over a tenth of the UK’s population.

Professor Mark Baker, director of the centre for clinical practice at NICE, said: “People should be encouraged to address any lifestyle factors such as smoking, drinking too much or eating unhealthily. We also recommend that statins are now offered to many more people – the effectiveness of these medicines is now well proven and their cost has fallen.”

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Reducing your cholesterol level, whether that’s through medication or lifestyle changes, will reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. The current guidance weighed the benefits of taking a statin against what was then the considerable cost to the health service. This pragmatic decision made sure that those of highest risk benefited. However, as most people who have a heart attack or stroke have average cholesterol levels and since statins are now much cheaper it makes sense to reconsider the threshold.”

Unfortunately, actually getting people to take their statins appears to be another issue. A 2012 study conducted by the British Heart Foundation discovered that an alarming 36% were not taking them.

Powerful anti-smoking campaign could shock people into quitting smoking

Smokers could be scared into quitting smoking when they catch a glimpse of a new graphic television advert set to be given its debut today. More than 10 million British adults smoke – around 22 per cent of men and 19 per cent of women, so many will have their eyes opened wide upon seeing the advert, which says “If you could see the damage, you’d stop”.

The advert is said to “bring to life the toxic cycle of dirty blood” generated by the inhalation of cigarette smoke. It has long been common knowledge the devastating impact that cigarettes have on the heart and lungs, with smokers being double the risk of dying from a stroke in comparison to non-smokers.

However, health officials have now used the new campaign get the message across how the toxic chemicals in cigarettes – such as arsenic and cyanide – can destroy cells in the brain. This therefore increased the risk of not only stroke, but suffering dementia and cognitive decline is also greatly increased.

The campaign has been funded by Public Health England and has been launched by the Chief Medical Officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies.

“We know about the serious effect smoking has on the heart and lungs but smokers need to be aware of how much potential damage is being done to the brain and other vital organs through toxins in cigarettes entering the blood,” she commented.

She added: “Smoking is the major cause of premature death, with one in two smokers dying prematurely from smoking related diseases, and it is extremely worrying that people still underestimate the health harms associated with it. However, it is not all doom and gloom for smokers looking to quit this New Year. Within five years of stopping smoking, your risk of stroke can be reduced to the same as a lifetime non-smoker.”

In addition to the obvious health benefits of people quitting smoking, there is also a hugely underestimated impact on the economy as a result of smoking. In particularly, a staggering amount to the tune of £5 billion is lost each and every year due to health costs, sick leave and lost productivity.

Professor Kevin Fenton, national director for health and wellbeing for Public Health England, speaking to the BBC News, said: “Tar, arsenic, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide – these all have either effects that they can cause cancers or they can cause significant amounts of damage to the lining of blood vessels. We really want to draw attention to that toxic nature of cigarette smoke and the ways it can be dealt with – which are either to stop smoking or to switch to healthier nicotine delivery systems – for example nicotine patches etc.”

Professor Fenton argued that there is so much more than can still be done to urge more people to kick the habit into touch.

Also speaking to BBC News was somebody who has successfully managed to quit smoking. John Lee, suffered a stroke that “came out of the blue” at the age of just 42. This resulted in paralysis to the left side of his body.

“I had been playing golf in Portugal. I flew home, got in the shower, felt a bit light-headed and that was it. My twins were seven years old at the time…The children were devastated. It’s really hard to explain the effect a stroke has. It doesn’t just affect you, it affects everyone around you. I was married at the time – since then my marriage has broken down, basically due to the stroke. The children have gone from having a dad that can run around and play football and do everything with them, to basically being able to do nothing. I would encourage anyone never to start smoking.”

Quitting smoking can get the blood flowing into your love life

It has long been said that smoking not only harms a man’s fertility but also effects his ability to achieve and sustain an erection, and the findings from a new study suggest that smoking is indeed disastrous for a man’s risk of suffering with erectile dysfunction.

The study, conducted over a period of three years, was carried out by experts based at the University of Hong Kong Schools of Public Health and Nursing. They assessed 700 men aged between 30 and 50, who were all smokers and complaining of impotence problems.

The team found that over half (53.8%) of the participants who successfully managed to quit smoking actually noted their erection problems had subsided, and within merely six months after quitting smoking. Therefore, those who gave up cigarettes had a 91.5% better chance of having a good sex life.

Involved in the study was Professor Sophia Chan, who stressed the need for smoking cessation programs to be introduced in a country such as China where there are a high number of men who are suffering with such problem.

Smokers should be aware of such adverse effects from their smoking and should quit now to prevent erectile dysfunction and other diseases caused by smoking”, commented Lam Tai-Hing, who was involved in the study with Professor Chan. Tai-Hing added; “In fact, erectile dysfunction patients who smoke can expect some quick benefits after quitting smoking.”

Smoking is believed to cause erectile dysfunction as it promotes narrowing in the arterial walls and negatively impacts blood flow to the penis through the pelvic region. There are a number of treatments available to men with impotence problems such as Viagra and Cialis; taken by millions of men around the world.

Viagra works it magic by enabling the blood vessels in your penis to relax, which then allows better flow into your Corpus Cavernosum and Spongiosum when you get sexually excited with stimulation.
Lifestyle improvements to boost cardiovascular health has also been found to ease the symptoms of erectile dysfunction. Men experiencing this problem may be advised to lose weight and begin exercising, lowering bad cholesterol level, lower blood pressure and adhere to a healthy diet that is low in saturated fat.

Maybe the graphic image warnings on cigarette packets about their dangers are not sufficient enough to get some men to quit smoking, but the risk of impotence could perhaps provide the motivation to finally stub out.

E-cigarettes described as life-savers – but how safe are they?

Scientists say that if all the smokers around the world converted to using e-cigarettes instead of smoking regular tobacco cigarettes, millions of deaths could be avoided.

According to public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), smoking is responsible for the deaths of around 100,000 each year just in the UK alone. Globally, 600,000 lives are lost due to secondhand smoke exposure alone.

ASH also say that an estimated 80% of deaths from lung cancer can be attributed to smoking, in addition to 80% of deaths from bronchitis and emphysema, and around 17% of deaths from heart disease can be put down to smoking.

The pros and cons of e-cigarettes were the source of discussion on Tuesday as 250 scientists, experts, policymakers and industry figures all convened for the E-Cigarette Summit at the Royal Society in London.

In the UK there are currently about 700,000 people using e-cigarettes. There are those who combine ‘vaping’, as it is usually referred to, with regular tobacco-based cigarettes, whereas others quit smoking regular cigarettes and simply use e-cigarettes.

A battery-operated e-cigarette works by vaporising a liquid solution containing nicotine. Regular cigarettes are comprised of thousands of toxic chemicals that are linked to a wide number of health problems such as many types of cancer, heart disease and stroke. Despite still containing nicotine – albeit a much lesser amount – e-cigarettes are considered substantially safer than regular cigarettes.
“Cigarettes are killing 5.4-million people per year in the world,” said health psychology professor and Cancer Research UK director of tobacco studies Robert West as he spoke to delegates.

Professor West said millions of lives could be saved each year if smokers switched to e-cigarettes and added: “The big question, and why we’re here, is whether that goal can be realized and how best to do it…and what kind of cultural, regulatory environment can be put in place to make sure that’s achieved. I think it can be achieved but that’s a hope, a promise, not a reality.”

He also commented how e-cigarettes were involved in nearly a third of all attempts to quit smoking. They are between 95% and 99% safer than regular cigarettes, yet some countries still insist on banning them. Whether or not regulation involving medicinal rules should be introduced was a hot topic for debate among the delegates, of which some voiced concerns about e-cigarettes becoming a gateway for people who have not previously smoked.

Added to the fears about e-cigarettes, is just how safe they are without necessary regulations in place. Some poorly-manufactured e-cigarettes have been reported to overheat and even combust.

ASH CE Deborah Arnott acknowledged the benefits of them for public health, but stressed there is still a certain lack of understanding about their long-term effects. She also said that perhaps worryingly, tobacco companies are buying out the major e-cigarette manufacturers.

She commented: “ASH thinks that e-cigarettes have significant potential. They are a lot less harmful than smoking. Clearly smokers find them attractive, primarily as a way of quitting and moving away from smoking, which they know will kill them. I think the jury’s out and these products need regulating because there’s a real concern that their safety and effectiveness is not guaranteed without regulation.”

Arnott added: “The tobacco companies are moving in. For them it’s potentially a ‘Kodak moment’ because if everyone moved to e-cigarettes, they’d lose their market, so they’ve got to be in there. A lot of the bigger e-cigarette companies have already been bought up. If there are carcinogens in there, you won’t see an immediate effect but 10, 15, 20 years down the line, people will be dying from that. The development of e-cigarettes is definitely running ahead of the science.”

New York’s smoking laws due to be tightened

In the UK we have just come to the end of Stoptober, which finished on 28 October. The campaign was to encourage smokers to think about their health and the dangers of tobacco, in the hope that many will stop smoking for good.

However, across the Atlantic Ocean it seems our American counterparts are just as dedicated to reducing the number of people smoking with the fantastic news that New York City Council has voted to increase the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 21.

The current age limit of 18 years of age is a federal minimum that is standard in many places. Smokers are banned from smoking in any New York park and beach, in addition to the majority of the city’s restaurants.

The banning of anyone under the age of 21 purchasing or being sold cigarettes in New York City is amongst the strictest anti-smoking legislation in the U.S., and will be set at a higher age than nearly all other areas of the U.S. with the exception of just a few select places.

Those who lobbied for the change in the law have pointed to disappointing city statistics that show smoking rates for the youth of New York City has plateaued at 8.5% since 2007.

New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is a strong advocate for anti-smoking measures and he now has 30 days to sign-off the bill. After this, the bill will be activated 180 days later.

“We know that tobacco dependence can begin very soon after a young person first tries smoking so it’s critical that we stop young people from smoking before they ever start,” Bloomberg said in a statement.

Mr Bloomberg had initially attempted to pass through legislation that would force all shops to have cigarettes out of public view, but this plan was scrapped earlier this year.

Another measure to be pushed through by New York City council members will see a base price of $10.50 (£6.55) being set for a packet of cigarettes and to bolster law enforcement’s role in the trade of illegal tobacco sales and distribution.

“This will literally save many, many lives,” said city councillor James Gennaro, the bill’s sponsor, whose mother and father died from tobacco-related illnesses. “I’ve lived with it, I’ve seen it…but I feel good today.”

As expected, cigarette companies have hit back and argue youths who smoke will simply turn to the black market to obtain their cigarettes, whilst there are those who consider it absurd that a person deemed to be old/mature enough to serve in the military is then told they are not old enough to smoke.

“New York City already has the highest cigarette tax rate and the highest cigarette smuggling rate in the country,” said Bryan D. Hatchell, a spokesman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which produces Camel and various other brands. “Those go hand in hand and this new law will only make the problem worse.”

Following yesterday’s vote, New York is now the largest city by some distance to ban the sake of cigarettes to 19 and 20-year-olds and a similar ban could occur in Hawaii, depending on the vote in December.

Presently, Needham, Massachusetts already has a minimum tobacco-buying age of 21 in, and this age will also be applied come January in nearby Canton, Massachusetts. New Jersey are also contemplating the same approach to buying cigarettes too.

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.”

570 children start smoking each day

The Smoking Time Machine smartphone app could not have emerged at a better time it appears after new research suggests that approximately 207,000 11 to 15-year-olds take up smoking every year across the UK. This is the total number from 2011 according to Cancer Research UK – up from 157,000 in 2010.

Broken down, this statistic equates to 570 youngsters lighting up their first cigarette every day in the UK, a staggering statistic and especially when considering the legal age to purchase tobacco products is 16.

The shocking figures came from the annual Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England survey.

Following Cancer Research UK’s study of the smoking habits of children in 2010 and 2011, they also found that nearly one in three (27%) under-16s have smoked at least once. This works out at one million children and with eight out of 10 adult smokers beginning prior to turning 19, clearly something needs to be done.

With that in mind, the charity is now calling for all cigarettes to be sold in plain, standard packaging. Australia became the world’s first country to implement this innovative anti-smoking plan in December 2012. The legislation forced all tobacco company logos to be banned from packages and instead replaced by bland, dreary green/brown-coloured packaging with accompanying unpleasant text and photographic warnings.

There is also concern about the addictive nature of cigarettes, with impressionable children initially beginning to smoke and then finding it hard to quit, which will continue into their later years.
The 2010 survey discovered that none of the 12-year-olds were regular smokers, 1% smoked occasionally and 2% said they used to smoke.

However just a year later and within the same group of children, 2% were regularly smoking, 4% smoked occasionally and 3% said they used to smoke. It is believe that around 50% of all long-term smokers will succumb to a smoking-related illness, adding up to 100,000 deaths a year.

Cancer Research UK claim that research shows children regard plain packaging as unappealing and are with such packaging are probably unlikely to be misled by sophisticated marketing that aims to make smoking seem an attraction proposition.

Sarah Woolnough, the charity’s executive director of policy and information, said: “With such a large number of youngsters starting to smoke every year, urgent action is needed to tackle the devastation caused by tobacco. Replacing slick, brightly coloured packs that appeal to children with standard packs displaying prominent health warnings is a vital part of efforts to protect health. Reducing the appeal of cigarettes with plain, standardised packs will give millions of children one less reason to start smoking.”

Public Health Minister Anna Soubry, added: “It’s worrying that these figures show that more 15-year-olds are trying cigarettes. We have consulted on introducing standardised packaging, looking at whether this could reduce smoking in young people. We have an open mind about this. Any decisions to take further action will be taken only after full consideration of the consultation responses and evidence.”

Millions of smokers urged to quit for No Smoking Day

An event that ‘unofficially’ first began thirty years ago is still going strong today as national No Smoking Day is upon us, with an estimated 750,000 smokers using the day as a springboard to a much healthier, tobacco-free future.  No Smoking Day is being supported by the UK charity WeQuit and the British Heart Foundation.

‘Don’t Smoke Day’, as it was first referred to back in 1983 by media, was the brainchild of a retired hospital administrator named Tom Hurst who penned a letter to the Minister for Health, requesting such a day. Hurst was fully aware of the potentially-fatal effects of smoking and believed it was necessary for parliament to implement a day that raised awareness of the issue.

Unfortunately for Hurst, the reply he received back was less than encouraging; “The Minister feels he is unable to support campaigns which might mislead the public into assuming that a causal relationship between tobacco smoking and cancer had been definitely proved.”

Of course, the Minister’s replied has been shown to be nonsense in the subsequent thirty years and it seems that more studies emerge on a daily basis that clearly demonstrate  how dangerous smoking is, being linked to many terminal cancers in addition to other serious health conditions such as multi-generational asthma, sudden cardiac death, osteoporosis and many more.

Realising that many smokers are still ignorant to the damage they are doing to their bodies and turning a blind eye to it, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) have taken advantage of the yearly format to alternate the theme of the day, instead focusing on where else cigarettes can impact smokers – their pockets.

Therefore, those who want to quit smoking are being encouraged to ‘Swap Fags for Swag’. The BHF have even listed the staggering amount of money that can be saved over the duration of a year by giving up, in addition to other 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.

A main reason why the British Heart Foundation are involved in No Smoking Day is because smoking doubles a person’s risk of heart attack and a report they have recently conducted has found that an incredible 82% of smokers have at some point attempted to kick the habit and not succeeded.
In total, 2010 smokers were surveyed and over one in ten commented they were ‘desperate’ to stop smoking. Moreover, 40% had tried to quit between four and 21 times.

Dr Mike Knapton, Associate Medical Director for the BHF, said: “Every year more than 100,000 smokers die because of their addiction. This addiction can be incredibly hard to break and we hear time and again of smokers who are absolutely desperate to quit, they just don’t know where to start. The report reveals that a quarter of smokers are more motivated to give up for financial reasons rather than to benefit their health. The downward trend in smoking rates has plateaued in recent years, proving we need to renew our efforts to help our ‘final fifth’ quit. Often these are long-term smokers, or people surrounded by family, friends and colleagues who smoke. They’re harder to reach, and they’ll probably find it hard to quit. That’s why we all need to reinvigorate our efforts to help smokers and UK governments are part of the mix. We need investment in local stop smoking services and measures such as standardised packaging to help protect our children from the fatal addiction so many people are currently battling with.”

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 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 approximate £2,555 you can save by quitting smoking!

Just one cigarette a day doubles the risk of sudden death in women

Previously it was thought that heavy smokers are most at risk from such health problems as heart disease, cancer, etc. However, a new study has emerged showing that women who smoke just a single cigarette each day and believe they are avoiding such dangers, are still at massive risk.

Researchers from the University of Alberta, Canada, tracked 101,018 women over a period of thirty years, examining the effects of both cigarette smoking and smoking cessation. In particularly, researchers were curious how many instances of sudden cardiac death (SCD) there would be. All study participants were between 30 to 55 years old and on average it was found that those who smoked, began in their later teenager years.

SCD is a where a sudden expected non-violent/non-traumatic death happens as a result of the loss of heart function. This is usually due to fatty deposits blocking arteries in the heart within older people, and in younger people under 35 years old, it is more than likely because of an inherited condition running in their family. The incidence of sudden cardiac death is approximately 1 in 1,000 per year, more common in males than females which make the findings of the Canadian study all the more intriguing.

The risk of heart problems was found to be double for women smoking just one cigarette each day compared to those who do not smoke, and the risk is a lot higher for long term smokers. The dangers are even greater than first thought and provide even more evidence that smokers should try and quit cigarettes altogether instead of limiting them to one or two a day, believing this to be healthier. Clearly even one cigarette is one too many, although the researchers do point out that the risk can be reversed and maybe eliminated within half a decade if women manage to stop smoking.

Roopinder K. Sandhu, M.D., M.P.H., the study’s lead author and a cardiac electrophysiologist at the University of Alberta’s Mazankowski Heart Institute in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, says: “Cigarette smoking is a known risk factor for sudden cardiac death, but until now, we didn’t know how the quantity and duration of smoking effected the risk among apparently healthy women, nor did we have long-term follow-up.”

During their three-decade long study, there were 351 occurrences of SCD according to the report in Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology, an American Heart Association journal. Proving just how damaging cigarettes are to the human body, it was discovered that Women with no previous history of cancer, heart disease, or stroke and who smoked were at two and a half times the risk of sudden cardiac death in comparison to healthy non-smoking women. For each additional five years of smoking, the risk shot-up by 8%. There was some positive findings however. Researchers ascertained that if women with heart disease decide to quit smoking, they will see their risk of sudden cardiac death falling to levels of a non-smoker after a period of 15 to 20 years of kicking the habit.

Upon viewing the alarming findings from the study, Ellen Mason, Senior Cardiac Nurse at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), commented: “This study shows that smoking just a couple of cigarettes a day could still seriously affect your future health. As we approach the New Year, many of us will be making resolutions and giving up smoking will be top of the list for lots of people. If you’re thinking of quitting and need a nudge, this research adds to the wealth of evidence that stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do for your heart health.”

Quitting smoking should be something considered all year-round though and not just as a New Year’s resolution, that often people will give-up on.  If this study alone will not persuade you to quit, perhaps many of the other countless serious health risks could tempt you to finally stop.

If you require a little extra help, why not try effective smoking cessation medication from Medical Specialists Pharmacy. Champix is a prescription medication that works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack, an incredibly small price when it comes to your long-term health. 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. In fact, many people argue than Champix is much better than nicotine patches at helping you to stop smoking.

Scotland aims to become a completely smoke-free country

Perhaps David Cameron’s coalition government could take the lead from Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and his Scottish National Party as the latter and his SNP have set themselves the bold target of making Scotland a smoke-free country. Plans were first made almost thirty years ago to make Glasgow a city free of smoke by the start of the new millennium. Unfortunately this never materialised though.

However, Scotland would appear to be at the forefront in their attempts to stamp-out smoking and back in 2006, the efforts of the then First Minister Jack McConnell, led Scotland to becoming the first UK country to introduce a smoking ban, forbidding smoking in all enclosed public spaces such as restaurants, nightclubs, bars, shopping centres, etc.

In spite of initial doubts about the ban, it has since proved to be an overwhelming success both in Scotland and in England since its introduction here in 2007. Hospital admissions for numerous smoking-induced health conditions such as asthma and heart problems have both been declining in recent years. In addition, it is believed that 10% decrease in premature births across Scotland is also connected to the ban.

Since 2006, the Scottish ruling on smoking has not completely had the desired effect sadly. Despite some health benefits being evident, the number of people actually giving up the unhealthy habit for good has not increased as much as the government would have liked. In fact, figures show that there has only been in excess of 2% more people stubbing-out for good.

This has resulted in SNP ministers yesterday outlining their plans to publish a timetable at some point in the New Year on their goals and possible new legislation that aims to make the country smoke-free. No date or further detail though has been revealed on specifically how they intend to go about this difficult task.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “The strategy will focus on prevention, protection and cessation and will also include both a review of smoking-cessation services and ambitious targets for reducing smoking across Scotland.”

The plans though show at least prove that the Alex Salmond administration is one of the most impressive anti-smoking governments in the world. The only other countries who also share Scotland’s belief that smoking is a serious issue are New Zealand and Finland who have set smoke-free target date of 2025 and 2040 respectively. New Zealand’s government also recently announced a whopping 40% increase in tobacco taxes, due to be implemented in the next four years.

You may be wondering though what constitutes a country actually becoming ‘smoke-free’. Well, the generally accepted definition is when less than 5% of the population are smoking. Estimates say that the percentage of adults in Scotland smoking has decreased from 25.7% 2006 to 23.3% in 2011. Although the number is moving in the right direction, the SNP clearly have their work cut-out to reach their target which could easily take decades judging from comments from John Watson, director of policy at anti-tobacco charity Ash Scotland. He said: “For somebody born next year, let’s try and achieve the target by the time they reach 18 or 21, so we are looking ahead to the next generation living their lives free from tobacco.”

Professor Gerard Hastings, of Stirling University’s Centre for Tobacco Control Research, suggested how the aim could be realised, urging ministers to limit the ‘distribution networks’ for tobacco.  Professor Hastings highlighted the supermarket giant Sainsbury’s who recently stopped the sale of tobacco from sale at six of its supermarkets. This came after the Scottish Government’s health levy on business rates paid by large stores who sell cigarettes and alcohol.

At Medical Specialists Pharmacy we applaud the efforts of the Scottish Government to encourage a nationwide curbing of smoking. Millions of lives will be saved, hospital admissions will drop drastically, secondhand smoking will decrease in addition to asthma rates and cardiovascular diseases, and money will be saved for consumers as cigarette prices go up as well as millions of pounds will be saved by NHS Scotland; vital as budgets become tighter.

We are pleased to be able to offer smoking cessation medication to all new and existing patients. Champix is a prescription medication that can be obtained following an online consultation with one of our GMC registered doctors. The medication equates to just £75.00 per pack, a small price when it comes to your long-term health. 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.

Virtual smoking apps are heavily criticised for influencing teenagers

Advertising cigarettes isn’t an easy game for manufacturers. In fact it is actually illegal within the UK and many other countries around the world. The Tobacco Advertising & Promotion Act 2002 was enforced in November of that year in the UK, and most cigarette advertising came to an abrupt end on 14th February 2003. This included all billboards and printed publications. By July of 2005 came a slow ‘phasing out’ period for other methods of promotion, (e.g. direct mail and sponsorship) and most advertising is now banned on the internet with regards to cigarettes.

Following the legislation, manufacturers instead focused their efforts on using the actual cigarette packet as a weapon in their marketing efforts as well as relying on the display of their products in shops and supermarkets to attract the eye of customers and bring in sales.

Unfortunately though for cigarette companies, The Health Act 2009 was then introduced by the government and as a result, from 6 April 2012, tobacco displays at the point of sale were banned across England in supermarkets and will also be banned in smaller shops from 6 April 2015.
Despite all this, it has not stopped the creators of smartphone apps from conjuring up slightly naughty and free-to-obtain pro-smoking apps that researchers now warn could influence youngsters into lighting up. This is on top of an ever-growing number of films that are depicting their stars with cigarettes and also risk encouraging kids to smoke, which we reported back in July.

The latest warnings come from researchers led by Nasser BinDhim at the University of Sydney’s School of Public Health in Sydney, Australia. The authors comment: “These apps could also easily attract teens and children due to their high-quality graphics and availability under the ‘Game’ and ‘Entertainment’ categories in the app stores. Pro-smoking apps that show that smoking is ‘cool’ in a cartoon game, and provide a chance to explore the available cigarette brands and even simulate the smoking experience with high-quality, free apps could potentially increase teens’ risk of smoking initiation.”

The study authors conducted their study by browsing around the popular Apple App store and Android Market. Keywords searched included ‘cigarette’, ‘smoke’, ‘smoking’, ‘cigar’ and ‘tobacco’. To their amazement, they found 107 apps that they argue encourage people to smoke and also breach advertising bans and promotion of tobacco products.

Their research has recently been published in the Tobacco Control medical journal. In particularly, the most popular apps were for smoking simulation. In total, there were 42 smoking-related apps discovered on the Android Market, which had been accessed more than 11 million times. On the Apple App Store, 65 apps were available for download.

One particular app that caused shock for researchers was a cartoon game called ‘Puff Pass’. In that game, users have to click on the characters that then begin to smoke and subsequently pass the cigarette on to other characters in the game.

The apps were first discovered back in February of this year and were available to download under the retail categories health and fitness, entertainment and games and lifestyle.

Cancer Society national tobacco control adviser Skye Kimura hit out at the tobacco companies attempting to manipulate young minds, saying: “More young people are using smartphones regardless of their demographic or economic makeup…So really it’s just about the industry manipulating the youth market again and finding ways to get around our legislation and the loopholes to advertise the products.”

German researchers claim heavy drinking can kill you sooner than smoking

According to experts in Germany, heavy boozing can send you to an early grave and ‘kills you quicker than smoking’ they say. In particularly, women who drink heavily are at a much greater risk of a premature death in comparison to men.

Academics in Germany recently published their study and the subsequent startling findings in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Professor Ulrich John, of University Medicine Greifswald and his team analysed a completely random selection of over 4,000 people between the ages of 18 and 64. From this total, 153 were identified as being alcohol dependent (AD). Of the 153, 149 were closely tracked for 14 years (119 men, 30 women).

This latest study has caused such a buzz mainly because it has assessed the impact of alcohol dependency over a longer period of time, whereas past studies have been mainly established via clinical trials to find risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption.

Professor Ulrich John explained, “Clinical data have revealed a higher proportion of individuals who have died than among the general population of the same age. Gender-specific data are rare, even among clinical samples. Furthermore, these studies have two main limitations. First, we know that only a minority of AD individuals receive treatment of this disorder, but we lack knowledge about how this selection occurs. Second, we have no evidence about potential effects of specialised alcoholism treatment on mortality among people who had been diagnosed as AD. We would like to know whether treatment might enhance survival time. For ethical reasons, no controlled trials are possible. Thus, longitudinal descriptive data as in this study are helpful.”

After the 14 years, there were some shocking findings for Professor John. He continued, “First, we found that annualised death rates were 4.6-fold higher for females and 1.9-fold higher for males compared to the age- and gender-specific general population. Second, we found that the mean age at death was 60 for females and 58 for males, both of which are about 20 years lower than the mean age at death among the general population. None of those deceased had reached the age of life expectancy. Third, having participated in inpatient AD treatment was not related with longer survival compared to not having taken part in treatment, meaning that it did not seem to have a sufficient protective effect against premature death.”

Overall the findings would seem to heavily suggest that alcohol abuse can result in more early fatalities compared to a lifetime of smoking. Professor John concluded, “Smoking-related death cases are more due to cancers which seem to occur later in life than many alcohol-attributable causes of death do. Furthermore, drinking can also contribute to other risky behaviours such as smoking, becoming overweight, and obesity. Alcohol is a dangerous product and should be consumed only within guidelines.”

If you think you have an alcohol dependency problem, Medical Specialists Pharmacy believes you should see your own GP as soon as possible. A dependency on alcohol is risked if you are regularly drinking large quantities of alcohol and find it difficult to even go through a single day without feeling like you need a drink. With many people, a high tolerance to alcohol may develop and larger amounts of alcohol than previous are needed before any effects are actually felt. By visiting your GP, they can warn you of the health dangers that your drinking is having and the resulting damage to your body that will occur if you continue down that particular path. In addition, they can offer treatment programs and get you involved in support groups or counselling. It has been proven on many occasions that alcoholics can cut down or stop drinking altogether by discussing their problems, and from the additional support of family and friends.

However, alcohol is not the only subject in this story. Medical Specialists Pharmacy is slightly concerned that people could misinterpret the findings from this particular study and now underestimate the dangers of smoking, wrongly believing it is safe to smoke. Both heavy smoking and alcohol intake are incredibly damaging to a person’s health and ideally both should be limited to an absolute minimum, or stopped altogether. In fact already this year we have discussed how smoking can contribute towards the bone disease osteoporosis, skin cancer and asthma. In addition we have recently looked in-depth at the huge hidden health risks associated with secondhand and thirdhand smoking.

Prevent the risk of developing these conditions today though with the help of Medical Specialists.  Champix is a prescription medication that can be obtained following an online consultation with one of our GMC registered doctors. It works out from as little as just £75.00 per pack, an incredibly small price when it comes to your long-term health. 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.