It's never too late! Stopping at any age will increase your life expectancy, provided that you stop before you develop cancer or another serious disease.

• Within the first 24 hours your blood pressure and lungs will be showing improvement.
• After three months your circulation and breathing should have improved noticeably.
• After five years, your risk of having a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.
• After ten years, your risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker

When you go smokefree, your appetite and sense of taste may improve, tempting you to snack more often.

Make sure you have plenty of healthy snacks, like fruit or nuts, in the house and hide the crisps!

Any weight gain need only be temporary. Once you've stopped smoking, you'll find it easier to be active and lose any extra weight.

If you find that you are struggling with weight before, or after, you’ve quit, visit www.fitchance.org to see how we can help you.

Being prepared and choosing a smokefree plan that works for you will create an ideal foundation for giving up smoking.

Take time to make sure that you are physically, mentally and emotionally ready and plan how and when you will give up.

Choose a quit date and commit to it. Think about how to deal with tempting situations like going to the pub, or a stressful day. You could also speak to your doctor about nicotine patches and gum to help you cope with the cravings.

Call our dedicated City and Hackney helpline for free on 0800 169 1943.

You can speak to an advisor over the phone, go to face-to-face meetings, get one-to-one local advice or receive advice via post, text and email.

You can try nicotine replacement therapy products or medication to help you cope with withdrawal symptoms. There are also lots of useful tools on this website that can help you get started on your journey towards becoming smokefree.

Call our dedicated helpline for free on 0800 169 1943. They can help you decide on the best way to quit and provide information about your nearest services.

The first few days after your quit date can be challenging, but symptoms last just a few days before you will notice an improvement.

Although nicotine withdrawal can make you restless, irritable, frustrated, tired, sleepless and clumsy, the most intense period of withdrawal on ly last for 2-3 days.

Nicotine patches and gum can be very useful in enabling you to cope with the early stage symptoms of withdrawal.

Once you've made it through the first few days your health improves rapidly.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy and other stop smoking medicines like Champix or Zyban can really help you to manage your cravings, all of these are available on NHS prescription from your GP or pharmacist.

Everyone has their own way of coping with cravings - try and make plans that suit you and the way you have chosen to quit smoking.

You could take up exercise or a hobby, or simply go for a walk.

Take long, deep breaths when you are experiencing an intense craving and avoid tea, coffee and alcohol during the first few days of stopping smoking.

Make use of the ways to quit and the tools and advice that are available to support and motivate you as you become a non-smoker.

If you do have a cigarette, you should stop again immediately.

Throw away the rest of the cigarette pack and take yourself out of the situation. Go for a walk, drink some water or take a deep breath. Ask yourself if you really want to be a smoker again.

If you start again, don't worry. You haven't failed. You have improved your chance of success next time. It can take people four or five attempts before they go smokefree for good.

If you've tried before and it didn't work out, don't worry. You haven't failed, you have just given yourself more practice for the next time you quit.

Research has shown that the more attempts you have made in the past, the more likely you are to succeed in the future. This is because each time you are getting more experienced in how to quit.

Next time you quit, spend a little longer planning and make sure you get plenty of support. The preparation you do up front can make all the difference.

It's hard to persuade someone to stop smoking. They really have to decide for themselves that they want to give up. But, giving them encouragement and support can really help.

Explain to the person that you are worried about their health. You can talk to them about this website and about finding a way to quit that works for them.

Encourage the person to visit this website, speak to their GP or pharmacist or to call freephone on our dedicated helpline on 0800 169 1943 for further advice and support.

There are lots of brilliant reasons for quitting smoking. Perhaps some of these might be helpful …

• The risk of having a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker five years after quitting.
• The risk of getting cancer drops with every year of not smoking.
• You will set a good example to your children.
• You will have more money to spend on other things.
• You will have more spare time to do positive things
• You will live longer - half of long-term smokers die early and lose about 16 years of life.

You will have better skin, fewer wrinkles and fresher breath.

Smoking causes many serious and fatal diseases including lung cancer, heart disease, bronchitis and emphysema. It also causes many other cancers, respiratory diseases, strokes and can affect fertility.

Cigarettes contain over 4,000 toxic chemicals and around 50 of these cause cancer.

• Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas in cigarette smoke. It is also found in car exhaust fumes and produced by faulty gas appliances. It takes the place of oxygen in the blood, causing your lungs to work less efficiently. This stops cells all around your body from getting the oxygen they need.

Tar is the sticky brown substance which stains your fingers and teeth. Tar causes cancer and damages your lungs. It stays inside your lungs, making tubes narrower and reducing your protection against infection.

Cigarettes contain over 4,000 toxic chemicals and around 50 of these cause cancer. The three main toxins are nicotine, carbon monoxide and tar.

Some other chemicals found in cigarettes are:

• Acetone - Nail varnish remover
• Ammonia - Toilet cleaner
• Arsenic - Rat poison
• Benzo(a)pyrene - Diesel exhaust fumes
• Carbon Monoxide - Petrol exhaust fumes
• DDT and Dieldrin - Insecticides
• Formaldehyde - Preservative for dead bodies
• Hydrogen Cyanide - Poison used in gas chambers
• Methanol - Rocket fuel
• Titanium - Metal used to make aeroplanes

No. If you smoke 'light', 'mild' or 'low tar' cigarettes, you are likely to inhale as much tar, nicotine and other poisons as those people who smoke regular cigarettes. The use of these misleading descriptions was banned from cigarette packaging in the EU in September 2003.

For more information about 'light' and 'mild' cigarettes visit www.lowtarexposed.org

Secondhand smoke is other people's tobacco smoke. Wherever people smoke, there is secondhand smoke in the air.

Secondhand smoke contains:

• Side stream smoke - smoke from the tip of the cigarette.
• Mainstream smoke - smoke that is breathed back out by the smoker.

Breathing in secondhand smoke can damage almost every organ in the human body. It increases the risk of lung cancer by 24% and heart disease by 25%.

Secondhand smoke is very dangerous for children because their bodies are still developing. Cot death is twice as likely for babies whose mothers smoke. Children who grow up in a smoking household are much more likely to suffer from asthma, middle ear infections, coughs, colds and wheezes.

People exposed to secondhand smoke face the same dangers as smokers themselves. They breathe in the same poisonous gases and toxic chemicals so suffer from the same health risks.

Tobacco smoke contains thousands of toxic chemicals. These poisons get into the bodies of children who live with smokers.

Babies and children who grow up in a smoky atmosphere are:

• Twice as likely to have asthma attacks and chest infections.
• More likely to need hospital care before their first birthday.
• Off sick from school more often.
• More likely to get more coughs, colds and wheezes.

Medical research also shows they have:

• Much higher risk of cot death than the children of non-smokers.
• Increased risk of meningitis.

More chance of getting ear infections and 'glue ear', which can lead to partial deafness.

Nicotine products such as patches and gum are often called Nicotine Replacement Therapy, or NRT for short. They help you to deal with nicotine withdrawal cravings, and double your chances of successfully going smokefree.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) gives your body nicotine without the harmful effects of smoking or chewing tobacco. The idea is to gradually reduce your addiction by using a low nicotine dose to take the edge off the cravings.  NHS prescriptions for NRT are available from your GP or pharmacist. For more information on NRT, click here.

Champix is the latest stop smoking medicine that is only available on prescription. Champix works by reducing your craving for a cigarette and by reducing the effects you feel if you do have a cigarette. You set a date to stop smoking, and start taking tablets 1 or 2 weeks before this date. Treatment normally lasts for 12 weeks. For more information on Champix, click here.

Zyban is a medicine that alters the way your body responds to nicotine. You start taking Zyban a couple of weeks before you quit and then continue the treatment to help you through the withdrawal cravings. Zyban is only available on prescription, and has been known to have more side-effects than other qutting aids.

When you smoke, carbon monoxide gets into your bloodstream and cuts down the oxygen reaching your baby. For every cigarette you smoke, the oxygen supplied to your baby is disrupted for 15 seconds and your baby experiences reduced blood flow for 15 minutes.

Health risks of smoking when pregnant include:

• More complications during your pregnancy and labour.
• Increased risk of miscarriage, bleeding and sickness.
• Slower growth of your baby.
• Increased risk of premature birth or stillbirth.

Health risks for your baby …

• Lower birth weight and weakness.
• Higher chance of cot death.
• Damage to airways which could cause breathing problems or asthma.

For additional support with smoking and pregnancy, call  Carolyn Bovelle, Specialist Midwife, on 020 8510 7732.

Being pregnant is the ideal time to quit smoking..

If you smoke during your pregnancy, or if people smoke near you, you will breathe in thousands of toxic chemicals. These chemicals cut down the amount of oxygen reaching your baby and can cause:

• Increased chance of miscarriage or stillbirth.
• Lower birth weight and under development.
• Higher risk of cot death.
• Damage to airways which could cause breathing problems or asthma.

For additional support with smoking and pregnancy, call  Carolyn Bovelle, Specialist Midwife, on 020 8510 7732.

Smoking is harmful throughout your pregnancy, and stopping at any stage will be better for your baby.

The good news is that the most damaging effects of smoking happen in months four to nine, so if you quit within the first three months of your pregnancy, your baby is likely to be a healthy weight.

For additional support with smoking and pregnancy, call  Carolyn Bovelle, Specialist Midwife, on 020 8510 7732.

If your family or friends smoke near you, you will breathe in thousands of toxic chemicals.

Your baby will be at increased risk of miscarriage, stillbirth, under development and cot death. Your partner, family and friends can all help you by making sure that they don't smoke when you are around. You could even ask them to quit smoking too!

For additional support with smoking and pregnancy, call  Carolyn Bovelle, Specialist Midwife, on 020 8510 7732.

Most pregnant women can use NRT. It's important to talk it through with your GP or midwife first. They can help you to weigh up the risks of continuing to smoke against the benefits of stopping using NRT. Using NRT is safer than smoking because it doesn't contain poisons like tar or carbon monoxide.

Based at the Homerton Hospital, a specialist midwife advisor supports pregnant mothers who wish to quit smoking.

Phone Carolyn Bovelle, Specialist Midwife, on 020 8510 7732.  You can also contact the Department of Health Pregnancy Helpline on 0800 00 22 00.

Chewing tobacco in paan makes you five times more likely to get oral cancer.

Many families enjoy chewing tobacco in paan at home. You don't need to spoil this tradition by stopping the ritual altogether - try chewing paan without the tobacco in it. This is much safer, and you won't be putting yourself or your family at risk. For more information, click here.