Camden Primary Care Trust NHS

Fact 1 Early death

On average, us smokers are looking at dying 16 years earlier than non-smokers. A calculator can’t work out what that means for us and those we love, but we can. It’s probably old news by now, but here are some of the short term and long term health problems and diseases we can get through smoking.

Fact 2 Day to day hassles

Before we even think about the big long term health problems, we take longer to get over colds and flu, asthma symptoms are worse, fertility in men and women is reduced and impotence can become a problem. What some people may find worse is that smoking also affects our appearance with skin wrinkling prematurely, tooth loss and gum disease 1

Fact 3 Heart Disease

Coronary heart disease is one of the 3 main killers in Camden. Smokers on average can expect to die 7 years earlier. In Camden, based on current smoking rate data this would equal nearly 30,000 people dying prematurely from smoking2

Fact 4 Bronchitis and Emphysema

Find it hard to breathe? Smoking contributes to 80% of deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease, including bronchitis and emphysema3. If you do have these conditions already, stopping smoking may not reverse the condition but it can slow its progression.

Fact 5 Cancer

Yes, it’s true that lung cancer accounts for the largest proportion of total deaths in London due to smoking, with almost 90% of male smokers deaths due to this disease. But many of us don’t even realize that there are other cancers as well due to smoking such as cancers of the mouth and throat, upper respiratory tract, bladder, kidneys, stomach, pancreas and myeloid leukemia4.

Fact 6 Death from Smoking

On average half of us are likely to die prematurely from smoking-related diseases. Of every 100 smokers who die from these diseases, 50 of us will die before the age of 70. Those of us who die this early will lose around 21 years of life5.

Us smokers are dying in big numbers, there were around 260 deaths in Camden in 2001, this was nearly one in five of all deaths6. This number of people could fill a plane!

Fact 7 Costs to the Health Service

Around 1,220 of us are admitted to Camden hospitals each year because of illnesses linked to our smoking, and we take up around 40 hospital beds per day7. As a proportion of hospital admissions, those with diseases caused by smoking make up 13% of all cancer admissions, 15% of circulatory admissions and 18% of respiratory admissions .

Although lung cancer accounts for the highest total of deaths due to smoking, chronic obstructive lung disease and ischaemic heart disease cause proportionately more hospital admissions as death from these diseases is often preceded by years of chronic ill-health and multiple admissions, which become longer as the disease progresses8.

To illustrate. one in five hospital admissions was due to chronic obstructive lung disease and one in four hospital admissions was due to treatment for ischaemc heart disease. This admission rate is five times higher than those admitted for cerbrovascular disease (stroke), but takes up a similar number of bed days.

The cost of all of this to Camden is high. In 2001 the total cost of smoking related disease in was over £3.5 million. As well as this, loads of us are going to our Doctor’s for medications to treat smoking illnesses. These are costing more than £2 million each year9.

1. 1. Ash Smoking Statistics: Illness and Health 2008
2. 2. Ash Smoking Statistics: Illness and Health 2008
3. 3. Ash Smoking Statistics: Illness and Health 2008
4. 4. Ash Smoking Statistics: Illness and Health 2008
5. 5. Ash Smoking Statistics: Illness and Health 2008
6. 6. Callum, C. and White, P. Tobacco in London: The preventable burden. Smokefree London & London Health Observatory, 2004)
7. 7. Callum, C. and White, P. Tobacco in London: The preventable burden. Smokefree London & London Health Observatory, 2004)
8. 8. Callum, C. and White, P. Tobacco in London: The preventable burden. Smokefree London & London Health Observatory, 2004)
9. 9. Camden PCT Annual Public Health Report 2006/07- Ashes to Ashes)