Smoking and your health
Find out more about the effect of smoking on your health as well as the benefits of quitting smoking.
How does Smoking impact your health?
Smoking is the leading cause of ill health and preventable death in the UK and kills around 80,000 lives a year in the UK. It will claim the lives of around 6,000 Londoners this year. On average they lose 10 years of life compared to non-smokers.
Cigarettes contain thousands of toxic chemicals, tar and produce carbon monoxide gas – a poisonous gas found in tobacco smoke, which reduces your blood’s ability to carry oxygen around the body. Smoking causes cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
However, the sooner you quit smoking, the sooner your body can begin recovering. You’ll look better, have more energy and feel healthier all around.
Find out more about smoking and health
Find out more about the benefits of stopping smoking
When you give up cigarettes for good, you’ll find that your body and brain go through a series of positive changes, day by day, week by week. You will reduce your risk of serious conditions, enjoy multiple health benefits right away, have more money in your wallet and have better relationships with loved ones.
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Stopping smoking and your NHS Health Check
An NHS Health Check looks at your risk of serious conditions like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and dementia. If you smoke, your results may show a higher risk. But the good news is that quitting smoking is the single most effective thing you can do to improve your health.
Stopping smoking and your NHS Health Check