The poll of 2,000 individuals conducted by One Poll has found that since the public smoking ban was introduced, 57 per cent of smoking respondents admitted to trying to keep their habit under wraps.

Of that 57 per cent, 21 per cent said they tried to hide their smoking from their other half, and 19.6% said that they tried to hide the habit from their offspring.

Other notable findings from the study included one-third of smoking respondents saying they had smoked less since the ban was introduced, four-fifths said they wanted to give up, and one in eight said that they had convinced themselves that they had quit – despite having the occasionally cigarette.

Clinical service manager at the Co-operative Pharmecy, Fiona Caplan-Dean, said: ‘The smoking ban in public places has had a major effect on the health of the nation, with a significant number of people giving up.

’But many smokers now try to keep their habit secret from their partner, children, friends and family.’

If you are a smoker who is looking to give up then you may find hypnosis could help you to achieve your goal. Visit our quitting smoking fact-sheet to find out more.

View and comment on the original NetDoctor article.

From the beginning of March 2012, cigarettes will no longer be available from vending machines in Northern Ireland.

According to health minister Edwin Poots, removing cigarette vending machines is an important milestone towards achieving a tobacco-free society and will bring Northern Ireland in line with the rest of the UK.

Poots is hoping that the move will help to reduce the number of children and young people who smoke by taking away these unsupervised machines.

He said, “A survey in Northern Ireland in 2010 highlighted that for 14% of smokers aged between 11 and 16 years, cigarette vending machines are a usual source of tobacco”.

Whilst Poots acknowledged that removing the vending machines would not solve the problem of children smoking in its entirety, it will remove an accessible source of tobacco for children who are underage as well as removing temptation from all of the individuals who endeavour to quit each year.

Cigarette vending machines were banned in England back in October 2011, with Wales set to introduce a ban in February this year and Scotland announcing it’s intentions to do the same in the coming months.

If you are a smoker who is looking to quit, you may find that hypnotherapy could be beneficial. Many individuals turn to hypnotherapy after failing to achieve success through other methods. To find out more, please visit our Quitting Smoking page.

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The beginning of October sees the launch of a new ban on vending machines selling cigarettes in England.

The ban was encouraged by UK heart charity The British Heart Foundation after it emerged that 1 out of every 10 underage smokers will obtain their cigarettes from a vending machine.

Betty McBride, policy director at the BHF, said: “Shopkeepers should be aware that more children could try to buy cigarettes over the counter now. They’ll need to do their bit to protect our children’s health by asking for proof of age – that’s the whole point of the vending machine ban.”

The vast majority of cigarette vending machines are located in licensed venues such as pubs and bars- so in theory, they should be inaccessible to under 18s. The problem is that the machines are often hidden away in unsupervised corridors or dark corners, which means that underage smokers can slip by quite easily without being noticed.

McBride insists the ban is a good idea that will, in the long run, make it more difficult for newer generations to obtain cigarettes. Smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease and kills approximately 1million people a year in the UK.

During the passing of the ban in parliament this June, owner of 200,000 vending machines Sinclair Collins attempted to argue that to ban them would be a breach of EU free trade rules due to the inconsistency of still allowing over-the-counter sales.

Eventually the appeal court-judges voted 2-1 and the ban came into action last Saturday 1^st October.

A spokesman for the Association of Convenience Stores stated that no specific action has been taken to warn shopkeepers of the increase in underage smokers attempting to buy cigarettes, however, many retailers have been upping their security for a number of years by instigating stricter ID rules.

If you or your child would like to stop smoking, hypnotherapy is a viable option. Addictions can be cured through the power of suggestion. If you would like to consult a hypnotherapist near you, then please use the search tool on our homepage. If you would like more advice and information on how hypnotherapy can help you quit smoking, then please view our page on Quitting Smoking.

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As Wales considers bringing in new legislation to prevent adults from smoking in cars when children are present, Scotland is urged to follow suit.

The smoking ban which was introduced in 2006 prevents people from smoking indoors, but at the moment, this does not include vehicles. A recent survey which took place in Scotland, found that the quality of the air within the car of a smoker, is on the same scale as industrial smog cities. This is potentially very dangerous for children who are present within the car, and are inhaling the second hand smoke.

In response to concerns over the potential effects of smoking in a car for children, Wales has introduced an education campaign, which is designed to make people more aware of these dangers. This campaign will be rolled out for a period of three years, and if it is ineffective, there will be decisions made on making this a legislative issue.

It has been brought to light that although the number of people being exposed to second hand smoke in Scotland has reduced since the smoking ban, the amount of children inhaling second hand smoke in cars, has not. This is worrying as it could potentially lead to long term health problems for children, who are still developing.

The Head of the British Lung Foundation has declared that this has decreased within those countries who are more strict about these issues, including Canada, America and Australia, and that it is now time for others to follow by example.

If you are worried about your smoking habits and are looking to try and quit, you may want to look into hypnotherapy as a way of dealing with it. To find out more about how it could help you, please visit our fact sheet for further information.

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Studies in the US show that men who smoke can increase their risk of dying by 22 times, and women by up to 12 times. The World Lung Foundation which was established in 2004, is an organisation which works to reverse the epidemic of lung conditions, particularly for those in low and middle income countries. Cancer Research UK also does a lot of work to try and combat cancer by raising money to develop treatments.

Even if smoking does not lead to full blown lung cancer, it can cause many other lung conditions. Bronchitis, emphysema and asthma are just three of the possible side effects of smoking. These conditions cause difficulty in breathing, and sometimes irreversible damage, which can have a huge effect on the quality of a persons life. These conditions can also lead to a whole host of other health problems.

If you are worried about the effects of your smoking, and are looking to try and quit, you may want to look into hypnotherapy as a way of dealing with your addiction to smoking. To find out more about how it could help you, please visit our fact sheet for further information.

The study, which was conducted by experts from the University of Minnesota and the University of Maryland involved pooling data on approximately 4 million individuals from 86 different studies.

After taking into account various risk factors, the researchers concluded that the increased risk of heart disease linked to smoking was 25% higher for females than for males.

Though the exact reason for the difference is unknown, experts believe it could be linked to toxic chemicals in tobacco smoke having a more potent effect on women due to biological differences.

The study also revealed that the longer a women smoked for the greater her risk of heart disease was compared to men who had been smoking for the same amount of time. For each year a women smoked, her risk of heart disease increased by 2%.

The authors of the study, Dr Rachel Huxley and Dr Mark Woodward wrote in the report: “Women might extract a greater quantity of carcinogens and other toxic agents from the same number of cigarettes than men.

“This occurrence could explain why women who smoke have double the risk of lung cancer compared with their male counterparts.”

Senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, Ellen Mason, said: “It’s alarming to see such a large study confirm that women are so much more at risk of heart disease from smoking than men.”

If you are a smoker who is looking to give up then you may find that hypnotherapy could help you to achieve your goal of quitting smoking. To find out more about how it could help you, please visit our fact sheet for further information.

View the original Guardian article.

A US study recently published in the journal Cancer has revealed that individuals who light up first thing in the morning stand a higher risk of developing cancer than those who have their first cigarette later on in the day.

The study in question looked at 7,610 smokers, 4,776 of whom had lung cancer and 2,835 of whom did not. The results showed that patients who smoked within the first 30 minutes after waking up were 70% more likely to have developed cancer than those who waited for a minimum of an hour.

The researchers said that even after they statistically adjusted the results to take into account other factors such as the number of cigarettes smoked per day, the negative affects of having a cigarette within 30 minutes of waking up were still present.

An additional study which was published in the same Cancer journal looked at 1,850 smokers, 1,055 of whom were suffering from either cancer of the neck or head. Similarly to the above study, the second also revealed that individuals who smoked in the first half an hour after waking were 59% more likely to have developed a tumour than those who waited.

In terms of why smoking first thing in the morning has this effect experts remain unsure, however, Dr Joshua Muscar who was the lead researcher believes that these smokers may have higher levels of nicotine and tobacco toxins in their body and may be more addicted to smoking than those who refrain from lighting up as soon as they wake.

Professor Robert West from Cancer Research UK also said that smokers who light up early in the morning are more likely to smoke intensively, meaning that more smoke is taken into the lungs and the exposure to cancer causing chemicals is higher.

If you are a smoker who is looking to give up, please visit our fact sheet on hypnotherapy for quitting smoking to find out about how it could help you.

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Doctors from 50 surgeries in the Hertfordshire area are to turn away obese patients and smokers seeking a routine hip or knee replacement surgery, until they have sought help from a weight management or smoking cessation scheme

These restrictions came into play around eight weeks ago and are soon to be extended to cover all routine surgery over the next few months.

After Health Secretary Andrew Lansley’s plans to give the bulk of the NHS budget to GPs instead of managers, the move has inspired other doctors up and down the UK to consider the introduction of similar rules themselves.

Smokers who refuse to make an effort to give up cigarettes will not be banned completely from having surgery but instead of a direct referral to hospital the GP will first discuss the added risks of their behaviour and will recommend solutions.

Chair of the north east clinical commissioning group, Tony Kostick, said: “This is about GPs accepting a greater gatekeeping role. The NHS spends a fortune on treatments of limited clinical value. We trawled through the evidence and found outcomes were poorer for smokers and the obese. They are in hospital longer, have more complications, more post-operative infections and do less well.”

He also added that putting a block on surgeries will hopefully help GPs to understand that if they spend money on one patient, this money is then available for the next. The idea is that obese patients for example, may no longer need surgery after they lose weight.

Critics argue that the blanket ban is a form of discrimination against patients who may require vital care and believe that each patient should be considered on a case by case basis.

If you are struggling to lose weight or to give up smoking then it may be worth considering hypnotherapy. Hypnotherapy for smoking and for weight loss have both been proven effective in a huge number of cases and have the added benefit of being completely side effect free.

If you would like to find out more about how hypnotherapy for smoking cessation, weight loss hypnotherapy or gastric band hypnotherapy could help you to achieve a healthier weight and lifestyle then please visit our fact-sheets for further information.

View the original Independent article.

The study in question involved 5,800 smokers, 2,915 of whom were sent supportive texts to help them quit over a six month period. The remainder of the participants only received messages thanking them for taking part in the study.

Those who were sent supportive messages received them five times a day for the first five weeks and then three per week for the remaining 26 weeks.

The participants also had the option of texting back to ask for more specific advice when either they had lapsed or were experiencing strong cravings.

After the six month period, 10 per cent of the 2,915 smokers who received supportive texts had quit, compared to just 4,9 per cent in the group that did not receive the messages of support.

Supportive messages included the following:

“To make things easier for yourself, try having some distractions ready for cravings and think up some personal strategies to help in stressful situations”

“Cravings last less than 5 minutes on average. To help distract yourself, try sipping a drink slowly until the craving is over.”

Dr Caroline Free from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine was responsible for leading the txt2stop trial and believes text message are an extremely convenient way for smokers to receive support.

“People described txt2stop as being like having a friend encouraging them or an angel on their shoulder. ” She said.

In the future it is hoped the txt2stop programme could be used to help smokers around the globe to quit.

If you are a smoker who is looking to give up then hypnotherapy is also an option which could help you. To find out more about hypnotherapy for smoking please view out fact-sheet.

View the original BBC News article.

Each year on the 31st May The World Health Organization (WHO) celebrate World No Tobacco Day, a day which intends to educate the public on the dangers of tobacco, encouraging a 24 hour tobacco free period.

Each year WHO select a different theme on which they base the day and this year the theme is “The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control”.

The framework, which was adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2003 and has since been taken on by 172 countries and the European Union, means that those involved are obligated to ensure the following:

-Ban advertising and sales of tobacco to minors.

-Introduce large health warnings on tobacco packaging.

-Protect people from tobacco smoke exposure.

-Increase taxes on tobacco.

-Reduce or ban additives in tobacco products.

Already many countries have made huge progressions in implementing rules and regulations so that they now fall in line with the treaty. For example, health warnings on tobacco packing in Uruguay now cover 80% of the packet, China and Turkey have implemented bans on smoking in public areas and Mauritius have introduced picture warnings on packs.

According to the WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan, more needs to be done if the treaty is to achieve its full potential. ”It is not enough to become a Party to the treaty. Countries must also pass, or strengthen, the necessary implementing legislation and then rigorously enforce it.” She said.

If you are a smoker who would like to give up then visit our fact-sheet on hypnotherapy for smoking to find out how it could help you to overcome your addiction.

Find out more about World No Tobacco Day.