Over 76,000 people each year die from conditions directly related to smoking, with many others developing debilitating smoking-related illnesses that they carry with them for many years. (1) When smoking a cigarette, a person will inhale carbon monoxide, tar, and nicotine. These are incredibly harmful substances that can have significant impacts on health.

It is this combination of carbon monoxide, tar, nicotine, and other chemicals that are introduced to the body through smoking that increases the risk of developing countless serious health conditions, such as coronary heart disease, heart attacks, stroke, and multiple types of cancer including mouth, throat, bladder, liver, stomach, and lung. (2) In fact, cigarette smoking causes 70% of all lung cancer cases in the UK. Smoking has also been liked to other ailments such as emphysema, kidney failure, and dementia. When someone smokes a cigarette, it is not only themselves they are putting at risk. Passive smoking can also increase the risk of developing these diseases. For example, if someone who has never smoked has a spouse who smokes regularly around them, their risk of developing lung cancer can increase by 20-30%. (3) Babies and children are particularly susceptible to the effects of second-hand smoke as it can worsen asthma symptoms, as well as put them at an increased risk of contracting meningitis, developing a persistent cough, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). (4)

Those who remain smoking whilst they are going through pregnancy are not only putting themselves at risk of disease, but also their unborn child. Smoking limits the amount of oxygen and nutrients that blood can carry to the unborn baby, increasing the risk of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, and stillbirth. (5) Smoking during pregnancy is also linked with an increased risk of placental abruption (bleeding during the last months of pregnancy when the placenta comes away from the wall of the womb) which can be fatal to both the mother and the child. (6) Babies whose mothers smoke during pregnancy are also at greater risk of being born prematurely and having their growth and health affected which can lead to further health problems in childhood and later life. (7)