Madeleine, I salute your quest for a smoke-free life!

Moving on a bit from yesterday’s blog but sticking with the smoking theme, since starting my blog I have been trying to make sure I read others and I’ve come across an interesting one, showing the battle faced by a smoker, aiming to quit. Which has made me think about just how tough it must be for anyone who really does want to kick the habit. It’s this ‘habit’ which can make it so difficult for some people, the ritual of lighting up which becomes so ingrained in a person’s routine. Non-smokers sometimes don’t understand how addictive nicotine is.

Thankfully there is a lot of support available for those who do want to quit and effective nicotine replacement products too. Which links in with a study in the BMJ, showing how smokers who may not necessarily want to quit straight away, but are prepared to try to reduce their smoking, are twice as likely to stop in the long-term, if they use nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to help them cut down gradually. So Madeleine, good luck, stick with the NRT and here’s to a nicotine-free life stretching ahead of you!

If anyone reading this has any tips on how to quit, then feel free to post them on here, or any more help you would like to see made available for smokers trying to give up. And of course I’d love to know what you think about the BMA’s calls for the smoking ban to be extended to include hospital grounds…