Quit Smoking for Stoptober
It’s time for Stoptober – an annual initiative from the NHS that aims to encourage and motivate people to quit smoking for 28 consecutive days in October.
Tobacco kills up to half of its users in their lifetime – worldwide, smoking kills around 6 million people each year and has been linked to cancer, lung disease, heart attack, stroke and coronary heart disease.
The nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive; even when we want to, many people find it difficult to stop smoking once they’ve started. According to the NHS, 70% of smokers say they would like to quit, yet still smoke anyway.
While difficult, the effort to quit smoking doesn’t need to be impossible, and once you do quit, you start to notice positive changes almost instantly.
Within 24 hours your blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal. Quit for a few days and you’ll notice an improved sense of taste and smell – not to mention money saved. After just two weeks your risk of heart attack starts to drop. Quit for a year and your risk of coronary heart disease and stroke has dropped to less than half of that of a smoker.
Helping you quit
It’s never too late to quit, and if you’re interested in giving up tobacco once and for all there are plenty of great resources online and from the NHS that can help you do it.
Start by speaking to your GP; they can help encourage you and prescribe nicotine replacement and other medications that can help you stay on track as you start your transition to being smoke free.
There’s plenty of useful online resources to help you educate yourself, find strategies that work and get encouragement when you’re struggling.
The NHS has a comprehensive website dedicated to help you stop smoking with plenty of resources, as well as a free app for your smartphone available for iPhones and Android phones.
If you’d like to keep it social, there is an NHS Smokefree facebook page you can join to meet other people who are also working towards the same goal.
The NHS also has a dedicated Smokefree service that you can sign up for online. The website is full of useful information and by joining you will receive a free quit kit as well as email reminders and support in person and over text.
Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Stop Smoking is the world’s best-selling book on how to quit smoking, and has helped millions of people around the world give up tobacco products for good. A new revised edition was published in 2015 on the books 30th anniversary, with even more useful information and a brand new forward to help you stay on track.
Have you ever tried to quit smoking? Will you give it a go for Stoptober?

Rachel - Silversurfers Assistant Editor

Latest posts by Rachel - Silversurfers Assistant Editor (see all)
- How to care for greys - March 4, 2021
- Clever uses for eggshells - March 1, 2021
- Spring Cleaning Playlist - February 28, 2021
- Spring Cleaning Tips - February 28, 2021
- Silversurfers Book Club Spring 2021 - February 25, 2021
Leave a Comment!
Community Terms & Conditions
Content standards
These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.
You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.
Contributions must:
be accurate (where they state facts); be genuinely held (where they state opinions); and comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.
Contributions must not:
contain any material which is defamatory of any person; or contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory; or promote sexually explicit material; or promote violence; promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; or infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person; or be likely to deceive any person; or be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence; or promote any illegal activity; or be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety; or be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person; or be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person; or give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case; or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.
Nurturing a safe environment
Our Silversurfers community is designed to foster friendships, based on trust, honesty, integrity and loyalty and is underpinned by these values.
We don't tolerate swearing, and reserve the right to remove any posts which we feel may offend others... let's keep it friendly!
Log in to comment
You need to be logged in to interact with Silversurfers. Please use the button below if you already have an account.
LoginNot a member?
You need to be a member to interact with Silversurfers. Joining is free and simple to do. Click the button below to join today!
Join