Smoking is a heavy burden on the NHS and is the cause of about 1 in 5 deaths.

The Telegraph reports that smoking costs the NHS more than 5 billion pounds a year and is the cause of 1 in 5 deaths in Britain. This "does not include indirect costs such as informal care, the costs of treating disease caused by passive smoking and the full range of conditions associated with smoking."

Speaking from my own experience, both of my parents smoked, and I had long spells in hospital and spent much of my childhood coughing...)o:

If you are a smoker, you do harm others by your smoking, even if you try not to believe this.

New warning on risks of smoking near babies

Researchers issue new warning on risks of smoking near babies - Guardian

Plans to clamp down on the way cigarettes are sold are being considered by the government to protect children's health.

Plans for clamp on teenage smoking - The Observer

Extracts:

"Radical plans to clamp down on the way cigarettes are sold are being considered by the government in an effort to tackle historically high levels of smoking among teenagers.

The blueprint for making cigarettes harder to buy, particularly for young people, have been drawn up by leading doctors and will now be evaluated by the Department of Health.

The sale of packs of 10 cigarettes - attractive to teenagers because they are cheaper - would be banned and cigarettes kept out of sight in shops."

"The far-reaching suggestions from the BMA's board of science are intended to reduce the harm which adult smoking does to children. Its report, 'Breaking the Cycle of Children's Exposure to Tobacco Smoke', stresses that parental smoking has a profound impact on the health of offspring, through inhalation of second-hand smoke, house fires caused by cigarettes and encouraging youngsters to regard smoking as normal. Having parents who smoke increases the chance of young people smoking."

"The measures are intended to reduce what the Treasury has estimated is the 80 billion cigarettes bought in the UK every year and, over time, cut the annual toll of about 112,000 deaths - 70,000 in men and 42,000 in women - linked to smoking. About 1,000 people a day are admitted to hospital in England alone suffering from smoking-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease and respiratory problems.

Although only a quarter of British adults smoke, almost half the country's children are exposed to tobacco smoke at home, according to research by Cancer Research UK, the leading cancer charity. The Royal College of Physicians estimates that more than 17,000 children under five are admitted to hospital every year because of passive smoking."

Reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer, and lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk and webpage http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/conditions.html
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

"Smoke detectives are taking over the streets" - Legislation seeks to protect non-smokers from the harm done by passive smoking.

Smoke detectives are taking over the streets

Extract:

"Thousands of council officers will be on the streets this summer, patrolling bars, restaurants and shops to police the smoking ban.

Smokers' campaigning groups said the scheme would be a "complete waste of public money". The British Beer and Pub Association said the plan was "heavy handed".

The new smoke-free rules come into force in England on July 1, when people will be banned from smoking in workplaces or enclosed public areas."


I spent my childhood coughing; both of my parents smoked. I developed bronchitis and pulmonary TB. Each time hospitalisation and the TB drugs produced some respite and remission, the cigarette smoke when I returned home caused the coughing to return, and the coughing in its turn disturbed the healing that had taken place and the TB became active again. - It isn't just early deaths from passive smoking that will be prevented by this legislation; it is a great deal of wholly needless suffering by children and others who are vulnerable to cigarette smoke...

Passive smoking 'increases heart risk by a third'

Passive smoking 'increases heart risk by a third'

Extract:

"Second hand smoke exposure can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by up to 30 per cent, a British study has found.

Researchers from the University of Nottingham say that passive smokers have a disproportionately high likelihood of suffering from heart disease due to exposure at home or in the workplace. "

"A smoking ban in public places across the UK comes into force on July 1st 2007."


Eating less salt is also an excellent way to reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

Chemical firm (Monsanto) 'paid cancer pioneer' (Sir Richard Doll)

I exchanged letters with Sir Richard in the summer of 2001, when I wrote to him about my findings about obesity and the salt connection. He was the only person of the dozens to whom I wrote that summer (MPs, medics, journalists, scientists,etc) who had the kindness and courtesy to read my letter carefully and to reply to it helpfully. - He agreed with me that weight gain when taking steroids or HRT is caused by sodium and water retention and that the way to lose water gained is to reduce salt intake or take diuretics. I had hoped that he would tell other doctors about this in order to save many more people from becoming obese/morbidly obese steroid victims, but sadly he did not do this, and the vital information continues not to be given.

There is a report here that seems to damage Sir Richard's reputation.

Extract from the report:

"Sir Richard, who first definitively linked smoking to lung cancer, conducted much of his research while in the pay of chemical companies.

The American Journal of Industrial Medicine says that Swedish researchers have found that Sir Richard, who also co-wrote a famous paper minimising the role of chemicals in causing cancer, failed to disclose that he was being paid at the time by the chemical company Monsanto.

From 1970 to 1990, Sir Richard, who died last year, was paid up to £1,000 a day as a consultant by Monsanto, now associated with GM crops rather than chemicals."

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html