31 May World No-Tobacco Day 2019

Addiction to tobacco (smoking) is the first cause of avoidable death in Spain and in the rest of developed countries. Smokers increase by 10 times their risk of suffering from lung cancer. In addition, smoking also causes other diseases of the respiratory and cardiovascular system such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or infarction.

The smoking habit not only puts the health of the smoker at risk, but also the people around them. In the case of child passive smokers, it increases their risk of having respiratory infections, asthma, and makes it much more likely that, on growing up, they will also be smokers.  

Therefore, on quitting smoking, there is a significant improvement in health. From the first day without smoking, breathing improves and blood pressure falls. In the long term, mortality rate reduces by half of that of the smoking population.  

If you are thinking about quitting smoking and would like advice from specialised professionals, don’t hesitate to send us your doubts. Dr. Jacobo Sellarés, of the Hospital Clinic Quit Smoking Unit (Unidad de Deshabituación al Tabaco del Hospital Clínico), will answer you live on YouTube.