31st May 2018 | World No Tobacco Day | World Health Organisation
18 May 2018
World No Tobacco day aims to create awareness of the dangers and health risk of smoking tobacco, with an overall aim of stopping use of tobacco worldwide.
This year the focus is on how smoking tobacco links to heart health, with the belief that there is not enough awareness of the dangers to your heart!
So, what do we need to know about heart health and smoking tobacco?
• Tobacco use and second-hand smoke contribute to around 12% of deaths from heart disease. Rigotti (2013)
• Tobacco use is the second leading cause of cardio vascular disease. BHF, 2018
• Smokers are almost twice as likely to have a heart attack compared with people who have never smoked. BHF, 2018
• Your heart must pump harder to supply the body with the oxygen it needs, due to carbon monoxide in tobacco smoke reducing the amount of oxygen in your blood. BHF, 2018
• Your blood is more likely to clot, which increases your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. BHF, 2018
• Passive smoking can still result in heart disease in non-smokers, which means you could be harming the health of your children, partner and friends. BHF, 2018
Smoking and the Workplace:
Smoking is a modifiable behaviour and a leading cause of preventable death in the UK, Office for National Statistics (ONS), 2016 and although the prevalence of smokers in the UK has decreased, 19% of adults in the UK are still current smokers, which works out at around 9.4 million UK adult cigarette smokers, ONS, 2016.
Together, we can explore ways to help them stop!
Why not dig a little deeper to understand why individuals are smoking in the first place to develop an appropriate intervention method?
It’s important to consider the link between smoking, anxiety and depression, often considered to be ‘self medication’, Mental Health Foundation, 2018. Trying to target individuals who are using smoking to make them feel more relaxed is a challenging task as the underlying cause of smoking could be related to mental health issues. Studies show that smoking does not help with relaxation and contributes to anxiety and tension and stopping smoking can have equal effects on the individual as taking anti-depressants, NHS, 2018.
If you have a high number of smokers in your workplace, INVESTIGATE why!?
New Leaf Health can help by providing health promotion techniques with an attempt to change behaviour, such as the ever-popular wellbeing roadshow built upon your own selection of various zones, including smoking and alcohol, stress management, cancer awareness, and much more.
For further information, simply visit our page https://www.newleafhealth.co.uk/roadshow/.
Likewise, we can set up a Stop Smoking Support Programme for your workplace. Simply contact us for content and costs.
Enquire now! https://www.newleafhealth.co.uk/request-a-quote/
References:
BHF (2018). Smoking. Retrieved from https://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/risk-factors/smoking
Rigotti, N., Clair, C. (2013). Managing tobacco use: the neglected cardiovascular disease risk factor, European Heart Journal, Volume 34, Issue 42, Pages 3259–3267, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/eht352
Office for National Statistics (2016). Adult smoking habits in Great Britain: 2014. Retrieved from https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/adultsmokinghabitsingreatbritain/2014
NHS (2018) Stopping smoking is good for your mental health. Retrieved from https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/stopping-smoking-mental-health-benefits/
Mental Health Foundation (2018) Smoking and mental health. Retrieved from https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/s/smoking-and-mental-health