According to an analysis of 172 research papers published over the past 50 years, women who smoke whilst pregnant could be increasing the chance of their baby being born malformed by up to 25 per cent.

As it stands an estimated 17 per cent of women in England and Wales smoke whilst they are pregnant, many of whom do not realise they could be putting their unborn baby at a significant risk of birth defects.

According to the study findings (the studies analysed looked at maternal smoking and birth defects) there was a total of 174,000 cases of malformation and 11.7 million healthy births, suggesting that smoking increased the risk of many abnormalities.

The data showed that the risk of giving birth to a baby with missing or deformed limbs is 26 per cent higher for smokers, a cleft palette or lip is 28 per cent more likely, clubfoot 28 per cent more likely, skull defects 33 per cent more likely and eye defects 25 per cent more likely.

Lead researcher Allan Hackshaw believes that many women who keep up smoking when they are pregnant do not realise the risks are so significant.

He said: “There’s still this idea among some women that if you smoke the baby will be small and that will make it easier when it comes to the delivery.”

“But what is not appreciated is that smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of defects in the child that are life-long.”

If you are a smoker who is either pregnant or trying for a baby then the safest option is to quit smoking as early on as possible to reduce any risks to your baby.

For information about how a qualified counsellor or psychotherapist could help you to quit, please visit our smoking cessation fact-sheet for more details, or alternatively use the search tool located on the homepage to find a professional in your area.

View the original BBC News article.

A study conducted by a team at Cardiff University involving 3,500 youngsters aged between 11 and 15 asked participants to rate how often they spoke to their fathers about important issues on a scale of ‘hardly ever’ to ‘most days’.

Only children who had never smoked before were asked to participate and after three years, the responses of children who had remained non smokers were compared to those who reported experimenting with cigarettes.

Dr White, of the University’s School of Medicine has said that fathers should be given more encouragement to talk to their children and says that this study highlights the potential impact parents and especially fathers can have upon their children’s choices about whether to smoke.

“Fathers should be encouraged and supported to improve the quality and frequency of communication with their children during adolescence.

View the original article here.

The past decade has seen a dramatic reduction in the number of people smoking. Figures have fallen by almost a quarter to 21% and the government hopes to increase this by a further 10% by 2020.

We have the smoking ban to thank for decreasing the number of smokers in our midst but what else can be done to try and reduce the number of smokers even further. As well as considering pushing smokers even further out into the cold by extending the ban outdoors to include entrances to workplaces, bus shelters and pub beer gardens, other measures are being considered such as removing branding from packets and banning cigarette vending machines, as will happen in Scotland next year.

Another government strategy is to crack down on illegally imported cheap cigarettes which will hopefully in turn reduce the number of youngsters taking up smoking.

The Smokers lobby group Forest sees these possible changes as another way to take away people’s freedom and right to make personal choices.

Smokers’ lobby group Forest criticised the proposals for eroding people’s ability to make lifestyle choices. The government simply see it as a way of trying to reduce the 80,000 deaths a year caused by smoking and also the huge £2.7 bn bill to the NHS.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said: “We’ve come so far and now we’ll go even further, to push forward and save even more lives.”

“This strategy renews our commitment to virtually eradicate the health harms caused by smoking, and I firmly believe we can halve smoking by 2020. In 10 years’ time, only one-in-10 people will smoke.”

Research shows that quitters have a 70% increased risk of developing type-two diabetes in the first six years without cigarettes compared with non-smokers.

One of the main reasons for the increase in risk is due to the fact that most quitters tend to gain weight because smoking acts to suppress appetite. Although the Annals of Internal Medicine study have stressed that this should not be used as an excuse to continue smoking.

Researchers found those who smoked the most and gained the most weight stood a higher chance of developing diabetes after they quit, but those who made no effort to quit at all had a constant 30% increased risk.

If quitters avoided developing the condition for 10 years, then their long term risk returned to normal. Researchers have said that the best solution would be for doctors to keep in mind the importance of weight control when counselling people about giving up smoking. Weight control needs to play a more active role in the quitting process. If smokers meetings and quitting kits and advice all begun to introduce weight gain as an issue then those wanting to quit will be more aware of the problem and will be able to seek the relevant help to keep their appetite under control.

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Figures show that more than half of smokers (54%) believe they need help in managing their cravings with seven out of ten smokers actually wanting to quit at any one time. The NHS Stop Smoking Quit Kit has been designed to aid and support those who wish to quit and includes things such as, calming audio downloads, a stress toy and a tool to help smokers work out how much money they are saving by quitting.

Besides the free kits the NHS are also upping their game by releasing television adverts as an accompaniment. In an attempt to remind many smokers that they are first and foremost parents the advert shows children singing I’d do anything from the musical Oliver and asking ‘If they’d do that, why won’t you give up smoking?’

The latest set of figures show that 770,000 smokers tried to stop in January 2009 and only 5% of them are expected to last the year (38,500), with four out of five smokers having tried and failed to nip their habit in the bud it can look like a daunting prospect. However, with the NHS supporting those wishing to quit and with research showing that most successful quitters not managing to stop on their first attempt, it is clear that patience and perseverance are also key.

Upon signing up to the virtual club of quitters, the members will receive weekly contact over a four week period via emails and texts, entry into competitions which gives them a chance of winning money can’t buy prizes and the chance to send the club they support to the top of the smokefree league.

Among the clubs that have pledged their support are Manchester United, Tottenham, Liverpool and Fulham and the scheme has also gained the support of John Barnes, Ian Wright, Gianfranco Zola, Andy Townsend and talkSPORT.

More than 1,500 fans have already signed up to the scheme which began in October, further verifying findings that most fans who smoke want to give up. Research has also suggested that fans are four times more likely to kick their smoking habit with support.

Martin Dockrell, research director for Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), welcomed the news about the number of committed football fan quitters: “Combining quitting and football means fans could be in with a chance to do the treble this season.

If you are a smoker and you would like help and support quitting then please visit the homepage of this site or the homepage of our Hypnotherapy Directory, where you will be able to find a counsellor or hypnotherapist in your area, or to find your local NHS stop smoking service please visit the smokefree website.

Or is it? Research has shown that smoker’s who switch to low tar brands tend to subconsciously draw deeper in order to intake the same hit of nicotine. This means they take in just as much tar and other harmful substances into their lungs. This means low tar cigarettes have little/no benefit and people who smoke them as a step to giving up are less likely to succeed than those who fully concentrate on quitting altogether.

A recent study aimed to explore whether people who switched to low tar brands were more or less likely to give up than other smokers.

Even though 51 percent of low-tar cigarette smokers had tried to quit, compared to 41 percent who hadn’t switched their cigarette type , their attempts to quit were only about half as likely to be successful.

Only 9 in 100 people who made a switch in their cigarette brand had succeeded in giving up smoking, compared with 17 percent of those who didn’t switch.

On a whole, the survey seems to suggest that instead of switching brands in a bid to quit, you should just focus all of your energy into quitting entirely.

If you want to give up smoking, please visit the homepage of this site to find a counsellor in your area or contact your GP surgery. They can help you to quit. Alternatively, call the NHS Smoking Helpline on 0800 022 4332 to find out about stop smoking services in your area.

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Despite the EU ban on any claims that some cigarettes are safer than others, a number of brands have found a loophole to exploit. A survey of 1,300 people has found that products using the terms “smooth”, “silver” or “gold” are generally believed to be healthier and easier to give up. However, when show plain packets, this belief disappears, University of Nottingham researchers discovered.

800 adult smokers and 500 teenagers all in the UK took part in study, which required them to compare certain cigarette packs. They were asked to evaluate what they assumed they would be like in terms of taste, tar levels, health risk, attractiveness, how easy they would be to give up and how attractive they would be to someone choosing to smoke for the first time.

The results show that the lighter the colour of the packaging the less harmful they were believed to have been. An example of this being exhibited by Marlboro packs with a gold label. This pack of cigarettes were rated as having a lower health risk by 53% of adults and easier to quit by 31%, when compared with the Marlboro packs with a red logo.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said the research showed all tobacco products should be sold in plain packaging.

“That would remove false beliefs about different brands and communicate the message that all cigarettes are dangerous.”