ASH Wales’ Response: Cancer Research UK Research Reveals 4 in 10 Cancers Could be Preventable with Lifestyle Changes

New research released today by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) shows that over 7,000 cancer cases per year in Wales are preventable, amounting to 140 per week.

Smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, weight and sunbed usage are the main causes of cancers which would otherwise be avoided – equating to almost four in 10 diagnoses, says CRUK.

15% of these avoidable cases were due to smoking, the highest percentage out of any of the lifestyle choices.

Suzanne Cass, Chief Executive of tobacco control charity ASH Wales, said: “It’s a shocking statistic that 38% of every cancer diagnosis in Wales is due to a lifestyle activity, such as smoking. Cancer Research UK’s stats show we still have a long way to go here in Wales to stop more people from becoming a statistic themselves. To do this we need strong policies, such as smokefree spaces for everyone to enjoy, and national campaigns to highlight the harms of tobacco.

“We know smoking kills almost half of its long-term users, however the majority of smokers do want to quit this killer habit. The support is out there for anyone wanting to stop smoking – the NHS in Wales offers a free stop smoking service called Help Me Quit, who are just one text or call away.”

To get free, local, and tailored advice visit www.helpmequit.wales, text ‘HMQ’ to 80818 or phone 08000 852 219.

Take the Challenge and Be a Quitter this No Smoking Day

Today (Wednesday 14th March) marks the 35th national No Smoking Day, challenging smokers to be a quitter for 24 hours.

The annual day, which sees around 700,000 attempted quits across the UK, encourages smokers to give no smoking a go for one day in the hope they will eventually feel ready to quit for good.

Currently in Wales, 19% of adults and 9% of 15/16-year olds smoke regularly. A recent survey showed that 64% of all smokers would like to give up, 44% have tried and 7% of people currently use an e-cigarette.

The unknown of what to expect when stopping smoking often puts off would-be quitters but that’s where No Smoking Day comes in, giving smokers an insight into what to expect when they finally go smokefree. Picking a specific date to quit, such as No Smoking Day, also means quitters are more likely to stay smokefree as they’re mentally ready for the challenge.

Tobacco control campaign group ASH Wales Cymru have created a timeline looking at what happens to the body during the 24 hours of No Smoking Day.

  • 20 minutes: After just 20 minutes of that last cigarette the body begins to recover. Nicotine, the addictive bit of smoking, is a stimulant which gives the body that ‘hit’, but this only lasts for a matter of minutes. Not long after the last puff of smoke, heart rate and blood pressure return to normal following this high.
  • 8 hours: This is the testing time when most quitters reach for another cigarette. The effects of withdrawal are strong as nicotine leaves the bloodstream and cravings start to increase. A top tip is to find something to keep the mind and hands distracted – fiddle with a pen and pick up a crossword!
  • 12 hours: Oxygen levels return to normal as poisonous smoke leaves the blood and body. It is this smoke which is the killer part of smoking, causing 1 in 2 long-term smokers to die from the addictive habit.
  • 24 hours: Anxiety and ‘stress’ levels peak. The feeling of stress associated with quitting smoking isn’t really stress – it’s a sign of withdrawal. It’s untrue that smoking de-stresses – it just feeds a craving. In fact, research shows non- and ex-smokers

Quitting smoking has enormous long-term benefits too as making it 10 years smokefree will see an ex-smoker’s risk of lung cancer, one of the most likely harms to a smoker’s life, become half that of a smoker. It’s great news for the heart as well; after 10 years smokefree the chance of a heart attack becomes the same as a non-smoker.

ASH Wales’ Chief Executive, Suzanne Cass, said: “No Smoking Day is a fantastic opportunity for smokers to give quitting a try and hopefully spur them on to say goodbye to tobacco for good. With thousands of others taking part of the day, would-be quitters can be reassured they’re not alone and there’s lots of great support out there, like with Help Me Quit, to keep them motivated throughout the day.

“Over 5,000 people die every single year in Wales from preventable illnesses caused by smoking. Every event like No Smoking Day or Stoptober which helps tackle this shocking statistic are crucially important and must be supported across Wales.”

The NHS offers a free stop smoking service in Wales called Help Me Quit. Smokers are four times more likely to stay smokefree with support than if they go it alone. To get free, local, and tailored advice visit www.helpmequit.wales, text ‘HMQ’ to 80818 or phone 08000 852 219.

Sniffer dogs help crack down on illegal tobacco in Wales

Specialist tobacco detection dogs will take to the streets of Cardiff on Friday (4th March) to encourage the public to get involved in the fight against illegal tobacco in Wales.

The illegal tobacco market makes up 15% of all tobacco sales in Wales, the highest in the UK. These cheap products make it easier for children to start smoking, as it is sold at pocket money prices by criminals who don’t care about age-restriction laws.

As part of No Smoking Day activities, ASH Wales Cymru will be joined by tobacco sniffer dogs, Scamp, Phoebe and Yoyo, at the Illegal Tobacco Mobile Unit at junction of Queen Street and Churchill Way (outside the entrance to the Capitol Centre).

The dogs, which are all ex-rescue dogs, have helped officers sniff out thousands of pounds worth of illegal tobacco, which is often hidden behind fake walls or in other unusual, concealed locations.

ASH Wales Cymru research has shown that information about where illegal tobacco is being sold often comes via reports from the community. The Illegal Tobacco Unit aims to help educate the public about what illegal tobacco looks like, what the dangers are and encourages them to keep their eyes open and report illegal tobacco being sold in their neighbourhood.

All tobacco is harmful, but illegal tobacco is a further risk to our children and communities, because it is sold so cheaply by criminals who are not interested in asking for proof of age.

We know from our research that 15% of the tobacco market in Wales is illegal compared with the UK average of 9%.

We’re not just talking about shops, younger people are more likely to visit “fag houses” to buy cigarettes or hand-rolling tobacco. This can mean they regularly come into contact with adults who might also be selling unlicensed alcohol, drugs or who might take the opportunity to exploit the relationship that develops.

We know that most adult smokers started when they were underage. The availability of cheap illegal tobacco gives children the opportunity to start a long-term and potentially deadly habit. If you know where it is being sold, please report it today”

Suzanne Cass, Chief Executive of ASH Wales Cymru

The sale of illegal tobacco is a serious criminal offence that can result in very large fines and imprisonment. Anyone wishing to report the selling of illegal tobacco can report anonymously by calling the Illegal Tobacco Hotline on 0300 999 0000 or by contacting their local Trading Standards Department.

3 Free Apps To Help You Quit Smoking

With millions of free apps in the reach of your fingertips, you can find an app for just about everything, including apps to help you quit smoking. We tried three free apps and now we want to share with you what we discovered!

1) Smoke Free

Our first pick of the apps to help you quit will greet you with a simple and clean design. The dashboard will show you the amount of time you have been a non-smoker for, money saved (which can be automatically linked with money saving app called Chip), your health improvement, progress and achievements. You have an option to share all of these on social media.

The diary feature lets you keep track of your cravings and money spent on NRT/e-cigs. You can also comment on each of the entries. Your cravings can be tracked by a graph in the cravings tab, which also includes quit tips. On the bottom of the page you can find recommendations for counselling therapists, prescription treatment or even games you can download on our phone to distract you from a craving.

You can mark your completed “missions” on another tab. 8 of these missions are free, but you can get over 30 if you upgrade to Pro version. There is also a tab that contains badges which you get for each day you stay Smokefree. The Smoke Free app is available for both Android and Apple iOS.

2) QuitNow!

The QuitNow! App will greet you with a funky colourful design full of funny illustrations. At first, it will ask you to fill up how many cigarettes you used to smoke a day, what is the price of a cigarette pack and the time you quit. You can also back up all this data on Facebook. The home page is split into sections. On the top of the page, you will see how much time you have been Smokefree, how many cigarettes you avoided and how much money you have saved. Another interesting stat will tell you how much time you “won back” by not smoking.

Underneath that, you can see your achievements. There are many achievements like saving up for a weekend trip or being a non-smoker for two weeks. Each of the achievements is accompanied with a funny illustration that unlocks once you have complete your “mission”.

The community is probably what makes this app unique from the other two apps to help you quit. Once you have created your own profile, you will be able to access a chat. There you can talk with other people that are in the same situation as you. The community seems to be active, so it is very possible that you will find people that can help you out.

The health page will show you all the good physical effects that quitting smoking had on your body with simple bars that fill up over time. This app is free, although it will nag you to buy a pro version and unlock more features. You can download it on Android or Apple iOS.

3) Kwit

Last one from apps to help you quit that we are reviewing has a clean and rather minimalistic design. On the top of the first page, you can see round icon with your achieved level (starting as a Novice). If you click at the tiny icon on the left from it, it will give you a quick quit tip. Underneath you will see bars with health, wellbeing, time, money and cigarettes not smoked.

Your dashboard will show you the time you have been a “kwitter”, cigarettes not smoked and money saved. All this information can be shared on social media. Achievements are split into Health, Wellbeing, Time, Money and Cigarettes. These have levels and unlock automatically with time. There is another tag called Willpower, but this one is only for Pro users.

It doesn’t seem to keep track of cravings and there doesn’t seem to be anything keeping track of e-cigarettes or cigarettes smoked while you tried to quit, so it seems that it will be most useful for those quitting cold turkey and wanting just a bit more motivation. This App is for Android and Apple iOS.

Which of these apps to help you quit will work best?

There are many more apps to help you quit that you can find. It is completely up to you which one will fit you the best. These three seem to have the best, cleanest and most intuitive design. They also have many free features, although you may choose to pay a little bit of money and get a pro version (Smoke Free offers Premium Version for free for 7 days!) This seems to be much better than some other free apps that will annoy you with pop up adverts every time you click on something.

But which one to choose then? We would recommend Smoke Free for those that love statistics and graphs. Smoke Free is also the only one that lets you make diary entries which allows you to make notes and map your progress in your own words. It is also the only one that allows you to keep track of money spent on NRT or e-cigarettes and helps you to keep track of cravings. The only downside is that it doesn’t let you engage with the community such as the QuitNow! app which can be a disadvantage. Some people might also find QuitNow! more uplifting because of the funny illustrations it offers.

All of these apps to help you quit are for free, so you can just get them for your phone and decide for yourself which one works the best (it may not even be one of those three!). And if you do find some of the apps helpful, feel free to share your success with us on our Instagram or Facebook

ASH Wales Welcomes New Plan to Improve Respiratory Health in Wales

A new respiratory health plan launched today by Wales’ Health Secretary Vaughan Gething has been welcomed by tobacco control charity ASH Wales.

The updated plan outlines work to improve smoking cessation services and support to better diagnose Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, known as COPD. A life-limiting disease, 90% of cases are due to smoking. There is an estimated 57,000 people in Wales with the condition, which doesn’t usually develop until someone reaches their 40s to 50s.

A number of other lung conditions can be caused by smoking or can be exacerbated – asthma, cancer and persistent chest infections – and support for these is also included within the plan which was launched today at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil.

Suzanne Cass, Chief Executive of ASH Wales Cymru, said: “With an estimated 57,000 COPD sufferers in Wales, this plan is a huge step forward in better supporting those with this illness and helping others to be diagnosed timely, so they can receive the right treatment they need and sooner.”

“The best possible thing for anyone’s lungs is to quit smoking, or for a non-smoker, to stay away from others smoking around them. Quitting smoking isn’t easy but there’s free support advice out there, including Wales’ Help Me Quit service.”

The Help Me Quit service and website offers tailored advice specific to the needs of would-be quitters. To find out more call 0800 085 2219 or visit helpmequit.wales

Never Too Early, Never Too Late – World Asthma Day

Today marks the 20th annual World Asthma Day, held each May to raise awareness of asthma worldwide.

Organised annually by Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), the theme of this year’s World Asthma Day is “NEVER TOO EARLY, NEVER TOO LATE. It’s always the right time to address airways disease”. The theme provides a call to action for patients and healthcare providers and places emphasis on an individual’s choice; important due to the fact that as a health condition, asthma cannot be cured but can be controlled by bringing in a few lifestyle changes.

The connection between smoking and asthma and its impact is evident when we consider 28% of asthma deaths in the UK occur as a result of smoking or being exposed to second-hand smoke. Research shows that tobacco smoke damages the cilla in the lungs, these are tiny hairs that sweep irritants away such as dust, smoke and pollen. Tobacco smoke also contains more than 4,000 chemicals, including carbon monoxide. It is the carbon monoxide which makes it harder for oxygen to circulate round the body.

Since 2007, smoking in indoor public places has been prohibited by law in the UK.  It is still possible however for non- smokers to be exposed to second-hand smoke in the home, in outdoor workplaces, in private vehicles or in outdoor social settings. Research has shown asthmatics are most at risk when exposed to second-hand smoke in small enclosed spaces such as bedrooms, living rooms and cars, due to a high concentration of toxic pollutants in one space. ASH Wales are currently running several campaigns to limit the harm caused and health implications which arise as a result of second-hand smoke with focus on its impact on the next generation in particular. Smokefree Homes, Smokefree School Gates and Smokefree Beaches are just a few of the campaigns which address this issue.

Studies have shown children are particularly vulnerable to second-hand smoke as they breath more rapidly and will inhale more pollutants per pound of their body weight. Babies and children also take more smoke into their lungs as they are still growing and their immune system isn’t full developed yet. Asthma UK warn parents that small children exposed to tobacco smoke are likely to have respiratory infections and wheeze, and are more likely to develop asthma later in life. ASH Wales’ Smokefree Baby & Me is a targeted campaign looking to reduce the number of women smoking in during pregnancy. According to a report by the Royal College of Physicians pre-natal smoking will increase a child’s risk of developing asthma by 90% during the first two years of their life.

In line with the campaign, it is never too early or too late to stop smoking, whether it is for yourself or your children. Free NHS help and support is available via Help Me Quit or call 0800 085 2219.