by Rachel Don Bosco
Counter Assistant – Regent Pharmacy
You’ve probably heard it before ‘Smoking Kills’. It’s advertised clearly wherever you go, on TV on posters even on cigarette boxes. But we have become so used to it that the phrase has lost all meaning. I mean when you think about it, smoking goes against every survival instinct in our body.
Let’s take it down a notch, as a child we were given simple instructions, like ‘don’t play with fire’ , ‘don’t talk to strangers’, ‘don’t drink the Benedict’s reagent even though its blue and pretty’ (okay maybe that one was just me, but you get the point). Now why do you think we were told that? It’s not a trick question. I’m being serious 😉 Yes, it was to ensure our safety and basically to keep us alive. See survival instincts! Okay, maybe my biology teacher wouldn’t agree on my interpretation, but meh it works. Now let’s make it more relatable to the topic. As an individual we go through life making sure we stay healthy from the food we eat to the medication and vitamins we take. So why is smoking different? There are over 4,000 chemicals in just one cigarette, 43 of which are known to cause cancer. I mean you thought I was crazy for wanting to drink the Benedict’s reagent in chemistry, but isn’t it really the same thing, except your just delaying the inevitable?
Words can sometimes not be enough so let me hit you with some facts:
- About 100,000 people in the UK die each year due to smoking
- 25,000 people in the UK die each year from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) , 8 out of 10 are smokers
- 30,000 people in the UK die each year from Cancer, 8 out of 10 are smokers
- On average a long-term smoker’s life expectancy is 10 years shorter than a non-smoker.
Now you’re going tell me that you know someone who has never had a cigarette in their life and still got cancer, but your neighbours’ vets’ brother has been smoking since he was 12 and is as fit as fiddle. Now I’m not saying that’s a lie. I guess some people are just real damn lucky. But I wouldn’t want to just live on luck, because the statistics are just not on my side, and unlike Katniss from the Hunger Games the odds are certainly not in my favour. The statistics above are just the tip of the iceberg; smoking has a major negative effect on most things from ageing to fertility. So is it really worth it?
Before I go on, I do have a confession to make..I’ve never smoked..and before you start hating on me let me explain. The pharmacy team is not here to judge, we have helped many people quit and each person has had a different story and a different habit. This means we know how hard it is for you to stop; we understand that nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs out there. We are here to support you, not judge you! #RealTalk
Now where do we really come in? Well let me tell you a story about a man, and for confidential reasons let’s call him Carlos (sorry, I’ve been reading this really good book and the hero is Mexican, *dreamy sigh*). Now Carlos wanted to lose weight, so he came into the Pharmacy enquiring about the Lipotrim service that we offer. So Carlos followed the scheme and has now lost around 4 stones (applause for Carlos), coincidently his latest visit was on ‘No Smoking Day’, and as an amazing health care assistant I noticed that Carlos had a packet of cigarettes on him. So after I had finished talking to him about his weight loss I mentioned the stop smoking service that we offer. Now this service is free of charge, and if you pay for your prescription then the items recommended to you would be a prescription charge, which works out cheaper than buying them over the counter anyway. It’s a seven week programme which requires you to come in once a week to meet with a qualified advisor (don’t worry it takes like 10 minutes at the most). The programme is set up in this way because you’re four times more likely to quit when you have someone to consult with. Now back to Carlos, bless him he was very interested, but he did want to loose more weight before starting to quit. Now this is the key for the service to work. YOU have to decide to quit, and be ready. Don’t feel pressurised into doing it, otherwise you’re not going to last long and your confidence in quitting will decrease. However, Carlos was interested in having his COPD reading taken, and although he had been smoking for 7 years like your neighbours vets brother he was COPD free. So what can we take from Carlos’ story, well the Pharmacy has and is playing a major role in bettering his quality of life. Not to brag or anything, but we helped him loose weight, lower his blood pressure, make a decision on stopping smoking and eased his mind regarding his COPD risk. I feel like this deserves hash tag #GoPharmacy
I guess what I’m trying to tell you is, you don’t need a specific day to quit. No smoking day may be over, but you can take the first step to a cigarette free life today, tomorrow, any day. It’s your life. It’s your choice. Make it count. *Mike Drop*
