The health risks associated with smoking have been well researched and documented. Cigarettes and cigars contain a lethal cocktail of chemicals that wreak havoc on the human body, causing ill health, disease and sadly an agonising death for many smokers. Most people are aware that cigarettes contain tar and nicotine. What is not so well known is that cigarettes have over four thousand chemicals in them, some of which are known to cause cancer? The effects of inhaling these poisons into your body are horrific. For many unfortunate smokers their habit results in coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis or some other disabling and potentially lethal disease. If there is some good news, it is the fact that the body is extremely resilient and as soon as you quit smoking your body begins to clean away these poisons and start the healing process.

In our present economic difficulties few families can afford the financial burden of smoking. At today’s prices a twenty a day habit costs the unfortunate smoker over €3,000 a year. With jobs so scarce imagine how hard it would be to earn an extra €3,000 after tax. Well for the average smoker it is there for free, by simply kicking the habit. Not long ago a young woman came for a stop smoking session. She explained that she was pregnant and wanted to do everything within her power to keep her unborn baby healthy. So quitting the cigarettes was her immediate priority. I asked her if the cost of her twenty a day habit was also a source of motivation to stop. Her reply fascinated me. She explained that money never meant that much to her, she had always got by but she figured that if her child eventually wanted to go to college she wanted him or her to have that chance that she herself had not. She calculated that by simply becoming a non-smoker she could save a whopping €52,598, not counting interest accrued. Now that’s what I call mothers love.

There has been a significant change in societal attitudes to smoking. It is now regarded as very anti social and some people actually see it as a personal weakness if you smoke. Smokers now have to go outside to smoke. They are not allowed to pollute the air space of non smoking friends and colleagues. Most smokers are embarrassed by their habit. The smell of cigarettes is putrid; the smell of a smoker’s breath, hair, clothes and skin is repulsive. The stench is carried over into their house, car and anywhere else they go. But alongside the smell there is the damage done to teeth. Nicotine stains are almost impossible to shift and nicotine makes it harder for the saliva in your mouth to remove germs thus increasing your exposure to gum disease and potential for teeth loss. Then there is the serious damage that the toxins in the cigarette do to the skin. This is a particular concern to women as the premature aging and wrinkling brought on by smoking is difficult to reverse. In 1971 an extensive study showed that the facial skin of long-term smokers was so terribly wrinkled that they looked as if they were 20 years older! These are the ugly, highly visible effects of smoking and together they damage the self esteem and confidence of tobacco users.

“Just picture yourself now, free from that horrible habit. Feeling comfortable and at ease when you meet people. You are content in the knowledge that you smell clean and fresh. Your teeth are white, breath is fresh so it is easy to talk and smile with total confidence. Now is your time to regain your self esteem, take back control and live the rest of your life as a happy, healthy, contented non smoker.”