Physical Wellness

No Smoking Day: New Smoking Data Raises Awareness About Sight Loss [VIDEO]

By Anne Collins | Update Date: Mar 09, 2017 07:46 PM EST

New data was released on No Smoking Day that showed 17.2 percent of adults were smokers in 2015, which was a decrease from a 20.1 percent in 2010. Charity has also warned smokers about the link to sight loss, cancer, and heart diseases.

Chairman of Eye Health UK, David Cartwright said that cigarettes cause blindness and that Britain's 7 million smokers are unaware of the dangers. Less than 10 percent realize smoking can affect their eye health, 92 percent associate smoking with lung cancer and 87 percent identified a link between smoking and the risk of heart disease.

The highest levels of smokers were reported to be in Scotland, at 19.1 percent. The daily number of cigarettes smoke has also gone down to 11-33 percent less than the peak in 1976. The report showed vaping levels are now at 2.3 million.

Half of e-cig users said they use it as a means to quit smoking, while 22 percent said they were vaping for health reasons. Only one in 10 e-cigarette users said they chose to vape because it was cheaper compared to buying cigarettes.

The Lancashire Post reported that with its efforts to promote No Smoking Day, the NHS has offered 10 tips to stop smoking, such as think positive, make a plan to quit smoking, consider your diet, change your drink, identify when you crave cigarettes, get some stop smoking support, get moving, make non-smoking friends, keep your hands and mouth busy and make a list of reasons to quit.

US studies have revealed that some food makes cigarettes more satisfying, such as meat. But cheese, fruits, and vegetable can make cigarettes taste terrible. Drinking more water and juice instead of alcohol, cola, coffee and tea can also help you quit.

No Smoking Day keeps getting better with the NHS Smokefree Helpline. If you feel the urge to smoke you can call 0300-123-1044, they are open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday to Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Sun reported that half of all sight loss could be avoided. Exercising can also help cut cravings by joining NHS Smoke-free programs.

© 2023 Counsel & Heal All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

Join the Conversation

Real Time Analytics