North East doctor urges smokers: Don't Wait to quit

Quitting can bring benefits to almost anyone at any age as the body begins to recover. Stopping can also save you money and reduce stress and anxiety within weeks.

Dr Ruth Sharrock, Respiratory Consultant with Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and Clinical Lead for the North East and North Cumbria Smokefree NHS/Treating Tobacco Dependency Taskforce, said:

“As a frontline NHS doctor I see so many patients whose health is affected by their smoking, regardless of what they came into hospital with, whether that’s their chest, their breathing respiratory infections, heart disease, diabetes, strokes – smoking has an impact on their health.

As a smoker you’re probably already aware of the number of conditions that are caused or made worse by smoking, but what you might not realise is how quickly your health starts to improve from the moment you stop. Within hours the carbon monoxide levels are starting to fall in your body, so the oxygen levels improve and within days your breathing is improving. You’ll find you can walk that little bit further, manage a bit easier, and so within weeks you might notice that your cough improves, that you can do a bit more.”

“We know as doctors that your circulation and your blood pressure all start to improve in the weeks after you stop smoking. The longer you manage to stay off cigarettes, the greater you reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, cancer, so it is really never too late to make a quit attempt.”

Smoking causes 16 types of cancer, heart disease, dementia, stroke and COPD and makes people more vulnerable to infectious diseases such as Covid and flu.

Stopping smoking can also reduce stress and improve mental health with the benefits seen after just six weeks .

After Danny Patterson’s dad was diagnosed with smoking related bladder cancer, he knew he had to stop smoking but it was three years before the death of a friend and a return home to look after his mum forced him to re-assess what he was doing and take action to quit.

Danny, 30, from North Shields, said: “When I quit, I was on 10-15 a day. My dad had cancer a few times – bladder cancer. He was first diagnosed 3 years ago, they said it was because he smoked. He had quit 10 years before, but the doctor said it was because he had smoked for so long. That was what initially put the idea in my head – I knew I needed to think about stopping.

“I had been living away from home for six years, teaching English. A guy I knew died of lung cancer in 2021 and then my mum got sick in the UK and needed a heart operation. I decided to come home to look after her and I thought: when I get back to England, I am going to stop smoking.

“I stopped in August 2021 using nicotine patches from the pharmacy. I made an appointment with the pharmacist, and she did an assessment and recommended nicotine replacement therapy. I had an appointment with her every two weeks, and they would check my progress and see how I was doing. I found it extremely helpful, and it gave me the motivation to continue.

“I have wanted to stop for years, and I am so glad I did. My mum was always desperate for me to stop smoking too, especially after my dad’s cancer diagnosis, so she is over the moon.

“I have pretty bad asthma and that is so much better now. I used to have to use my blue inhaler regularly and now I hardly use it. I am a lot more fitter and have lost quite a lot of weight – two stone – because I’ve realised I can do more exercise as I’m breathing much better. I have also saved loads of money. I am saving up for when my girlfriend comes to visit from Thailand, and we can go on a trip to Europe.”