Scottish smoking ban has improved public health.

There has been a significant improvement in public health according to the most recent research carried out in Scotland.

Comparisons of heart attack rates at nine hospitals showed a 17% drop in the number of heart attack victims since March 2006 when the smoking in public places ban was implemented.

The research also suggest that the air quality found in pubs is now as good as that outside.

The report also states there has been a reduction of 40% in the number of adults exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke (also known as environmental tobacco smoke)

The main findings of the study were;

The ban has reduced second hand smoke exposure in both children and adults.

Among primary school children, levels of a by-product of nicotine fell by more than a third (39%) following the ban.

In adults, cotinine (a metabolite of nicotine) levels fell by almost half (49%) in non-smokers from non-smoking households.

Non-smokers living in smoking households continued to have high levels of second hand smoke exposure in the home.

And the authors suggest that further action is urgently required to support smoking households to implement smoke-free homes and cars.


The scientific research is based on routine health data, as well as research projects undertaken by government scientists and Scottish universities into the effects of the smoking ban.

The Scottish deputy chief medical officer, Professor Peter Donnelly, said the results were proof that the ban had produced major health gains.

Professor Jill Pell, who headed the research team which made the findings, said: "The primary aim of smoking bans is to protect non-smokers from the effects of passive smoking.

But Scottish publicans claim that many of the benefits could have been achieved without a ban and complain that bar sales have declined because of it.

Jill Pell said; "Previous studies have not been able to confirm whether or not that has been achieved. What we were able to show is that among people who are non-smokers there was a 20% reduction in heart attack admissions. This [research] confirms that the legislation has been effective in helping non-smokers."

After the Scotland banned smoking in enclosed public spaces, Wales and Northern Ireland followed suit in April 2007 and England did the same in July 2007.

Chantix Side Effects website

For those of you who are considering using chantix along with hypnosis and maybe cognitive behavioural therapy to quit smoking, a new website has been launched specifically to target the Chantix Side Effects search term. The new website can be found at www.chantixsideeffects.info

Ed Byrne's occasional smoker joke

Dave Allen's 8 minutes on smoking - brilliant!

This item is absolutely hilarious. I grew up watching Dave Allen on TV and he was brilliant then as he is now. A bit of foul language but bloody funny. Enjoy!

Richard Mackenzie Hypnotherapist

This guy offers a really sound approach to quitting smoking using hypnotherapy. Check out his website by clicking the link here: http://www.richardmackenzie.co.uk/

http://www.richardmackenzie.co.uk/

The truth about drug company sponsored drug trials

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that I have little or no time for drugs to help smokers quit smoking. I believe smoking can be successfully overcome without drugs whatsoever, either by hypnosis or by using my own EasyQuit System book, available at http://easyquitsystem.com

I found the following BBC Panorama investigation on the BBC's website. You will need Windows Media Player to view this:

Secrets of the Drug Trials

Nicotine Replacement Therapy, Zyban and Varenicline have all got flawed efficacy studies in my opinion. Think carefully before turning to these solutions.

As ever, never stop trying to quit smoking.

Hypnosis Works for Smokers Trying to Quit

I found this article posted which made for interesting reading. It seems that quitting smoking using hypnosis is more successful if your are a man. Maybe men visualise things a little differently than women - after all, men are likely to be 'visually motivated' than women (particularly by the sight of a woman!)

Men are more likely than women to have success using hypnosis to quit smoking, says an Ohio State University report. Researchers reviewed 18 studies of hypnosis-based smoking-cessation programs and found this approach was successful for about 30 percent of men, compared to 23 percent of women. But the researchers said this difference may have more to do with gender than with hypnosis itself.

"My suspicion is that the gender differences are not unique to hypnosis, but are connected to difficulties women have in trying to quit smoking in general," Joseph Green, an associate professor of psychology, said in a prepared statement. He presented the findings July 30 at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Honolulu.

Green said none of the studies examined why hypnosis seemed more effective for men than women. He said that if a smoker -- male or female -- is strongly motivated to quit, hypnosis should be as effective for them as any other smoking-cessation method. But he said people should avoid hypnosis treatments that guarantee success with one session.

Hypnosis to quit smoking often requires multiple sessions and needs to be combined with other approaches, such as cognitive behavior strategies, proper nutrition, exercise and avoidance of smoking triggers, he said.

Source: MyHealthInsight.com