Smoking Cessation for parents/carers

Smoking Cessation for parents/carers

How is smoking related to asthma in children and young people?

Children who are around secondhand smoke have worse and more asthma attacks

Children who live in a house where there is secondhand smoke are less likely to have good asthma control

When someone has asthma, the air tubes in their lungs (called bronchi) react to things that irritate them. This makes the air tubes swell, squeeze tighter and make more mucous. This makes it hard for air to get through the swollen tubes making it feel difficult to breathe. An asthma attack can happen when something irritates the airways and triggers an attack.

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of gasses and fine particles including toxic chemicals

Tobacco smoke including secondhand smoke irritates the airways and is a common trigger for asthma.

     Tips for Giving Up Smoking

      The best way to give up smoking is by using specialist help and stop smoking

      treatments together. You’re around three times more likely to quit if you use

      treatments alongside stop smoking support.

1. List your reasons to quit This can be helpful to go back to remind yourself of the reasons to quit
2. Tell others that you’re giving up smoking Making it public can give you the push that you need
3. Make a date and stick to it. Tell yourself that you will be a non-smoker after this date
4. Prepare for withdrawal symptoms (cravings) Distract yourself from craving. Leave the room if your friends are smoking. Keep your hands and mouth busy

 Ask your GP about stop smoking treatments

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

This comes in different forms (patches, gum, sprays, lozenges, inhalators). These help to control the urge to smoke. Its available on prescription from your GP or stop smoking services or is available to buy over the counter in pharmacies

These treatments give a low level of nicotine without the other harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. Over time you can slowly reduce the amount of nicotine that you’re taking before stopping completely. Most people usually take NRT for 8-12 weeks before starting to reduce the dose. You can also combine two types of NRT, one to give a background level of nicotine (such as a patch) and another faster acting type (such as gum) to help with cravings

Zyban (bupropion)

This a medication available on the NHS to help you stop smoking. This can be prescribed by GPs.

Access support to help you quit

Local Support – Smoke Free Homes service from the Starting Well Partnership

– If there are any children under 3 years old in the home

– provides 1:1 support with a trained smoking cessation advisor

– Point of Contact for Nicotine Replacement Therapy

– Referred by a health professional (including respiratory team or GP) by email [email protected]

Onside Lifestyle Advisor Service

https://www.onside-advocacy.org.uk/lifestyle

Local (Worcestershire) lifestyle advisors to provide advice, tips and support for stopping smoking

NHS England better health: quit smoking

NHS England Website: Quit smoking – Better Health – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Help line: 0300 123 1044 Lines are open 9am-8pm weekdays, 11am-4pm at the weekend.

Chat to an adviser online, sign up for 28 days of free quitting advice and tips straight to your inbox to increase your chance of success: NHS – Quit smoking

Join the Facebook Smokefree online community, swap tips and get advice from people trying to quit: Facebook – NHS Smokefree

“I can’t stop smoking completely at the moment. Is there anything else I can do?”

Reducing the number of cigarettes smoked. Any reduction is helpful for health benefits.

Delay the first cigarette of the day by 5-10 minutes every day, until it is eventually much later in the day until the first one

Making sure that you never smoke indoors

When you smoke indoors, secondhand smoke stays in the air.  Most of the particles in smoke are smaller than dust, so even if you can’t smell it or see it, the chemicals are still there.

Smoking at the back door or by a window or extractor fan doesn’t stop the smoke particles getting in to the house

Think about getting stuff ready to make it easier to smoke outside like shoes and coat or umbrella by the door

Secondhand smoke stays in the air for up to 5 hours after your last cigarette, so will still linger even if you smoke when children aren’t at home

Children breathe in more of the toxic chemicals in secondhand smoke as their airways are smaller and they breathe faster than adults

Vaping

Vaping is not a safe alternative to tobacco smoking, although it is probably less harmful than smoking. It is extremely addictive and can cause lung injury. We do not know the long-term effects.

A vape works by heating an e-liquid into a vapour that is inhaled. Vapes do not contain tobacco but are made up of many different chemicals, including flavours and preservatives.

Vapes are thought to contain fewer toxic chemicals and at lower levels than smoking cigarettes. They don’t produce tar or carbon monoxide, which are two of the most harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke.

Vapes do contain large amounts of nicotine which makes them highly addictive. On average one vape contains the same amount as 20 of cigarettes.

Vapes can cause lung damage from short term use, which is called e-cigarette or vaping associated lung injury (EVALI). This is thought to be caused by toxic chemicals in vape liquid.

Vaping has not been around for long enough to know the long-term effects on the lungs and airways.

E-cigarettes were originally marketed to help people quit smoking. Some people may find vaping helps them to stop smoking cigarettes, but they may then find it hard to stop vaping. There are other ways to quit without using e-cigarettes such as using nicotine replacement therapy or support from your GP or a quit smoking support service.

What about secondhand vaping?

Secondhand vapour is not just water, it also contains a mixture of chemicals

There are not many studies into the effects of secondhand (passive) vaping, so we don’t know it’s long term effects yet.  There is some evidence that secondhand vaping causes shortness of breath and other lung symptoms (bronchitis, cough or phlegm) in young people.

This means, if a child has asthma, secondhand vaping could make their symptoms worse.

References

https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/living-with/stop-smoking

https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking

https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/family-resources-education/family-resources-library/smoking-and-asthma

https://cumbria.gov.uk/elibrary/Content/Internet/537/17241/17245/4320811286.PDF

https://www.nhsinform.scot/campaigns/take-it-right-outside

Tobacco Smoke and Vaping

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/diseases/secondhand-smoke-asthma.html

https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk/life-with-cystic-fibrosis/health-and-wellbeing/vaping-and-cystic-fibrosis

Gautier, C. and Charpin, D., 2017. Environmental triggers and avoidance in the management of asthma. Journal of asthma and allergy, pp.47-56.

Soussan, D., Liard, R., Zureik, M., Touron, D., Rogeaux, Y. and Neukirch, F., 2003. Treatment compliance, passive smoking, and asthma control: a three year cohort study. Archives of disease in childhood, 88(3), pp.229-233.

If your symptoms or condition worsens, or if you are concerned about anything, please call your GP, 111, or 999.

Patient Experience

We know that being admitted to hospital can be a difficult and unsettling time for you and your loved ones. If you have any questions or concerns, please do speak with a member of staff on the ward or in the relevant department who will do their best to answer your questions and reassure you. 

Feedback

Feedback is really important and useful to us – it can tell us where we are working well and where improvements can be made. There are lots of ways you can share your experience with us including completing our Friends and Family Test – cards are available and can be posted on all wards, departments and clinics at our hospitals. We value your comments and feedback and thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

If you have any concerns or questions about your care, we advise you to talk with the nurse in charge or the department manager in the first instance as they are best placed to answer any questions or resolve concerns quickly. If the relevant member of staff is unable to help resolve your concern, you can contact the PALS Team. We offer informal help, advice or support about any aspect of hospital services & experiences.

Our PALS team will liaise with the various departments in our hospitals on your behalf, if you feel unable to do so, to resolve your problems and where appropriate refer to outside help.

If you are still unhappy you can contact the Complaints Department, who can investigate your concerns. You can make a complaint orally, electronically or in writing and we can advise and guide you through the complaints procedure.

How to contact PALS:

Telephone Patient Services: 0300 123 1732 or via email at: [email protected]

Opening times:

The PALS telephone lines are open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 4.00pm. Please be aware that you may need to leave a voicemail message, but we aim to return your call within one working day.

If you are unable to understand this leaflet, please communicate with a member of staff.  

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