If you are a smoker, cutting down or stopping before you start treatment is one of the best changes you can make to improve your health. It can help your body respond to treatment and heal more quickly, it may also reduce the likelihood of treatment interruptions and the risk of cancer coming back.

Why is it important to give up smoking?

Radiotherapy

Radiotherapy may be more effective if you stop smoking. It may also reduce the side effects of radiotherapy and improve your overall feeling of wellbeing.

Surgery

Stopping smoking before your surgery will speed up your recovery.

It helps to:

• reduce heart, lung and wound related complications
• reduce wound healing time
• reduce your length of stay in hospital
• reduce associated symptoms from treatment
• improve your quality of life following treatment

Stopping smoking 8 weeks before surgery will have the most benefit, but even stopping just before surgery will be beneficial. It’s never too late!

You should never smoke on the day of your surgery.

Our hospitals are smoke-free so there are no facilities for smoking anywhere in the hospital or grounds.

Vaping

Vaping or using an e-cigarette, is not as harmful as smoking cigarettes. However, we don’t yet know the long-term health consequences.

Vape liquid contains nicotine which increases your heart rate and blood pressure putting strain on your heart. Try to avoid vaping before your operation.

When will I see the benefits of giving up smoking?

As soon as you stop smoking your body begins to recover. 

• Within the first hour, your body begins to get rid of toxins, circulation improves with blood pressure and pulse returning to normal.
• After 8 hours the levels of carbon monoxide in your body will reduce by half and your oxygen levels will return to the normal levels of a non-smoker.
• After just a few weeks you will really notice that your breathing will be easier, your blood circulation has improved and you will have more energy.
• After 1 year your risk of heart disease becomes half that of someone who smokes
• After 10 years your risk of lung cancer becomes half that of someone who smokes
• After 15 year your risk of a heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked

Help to stop smoking

Quit Your Way Scotland is an advice and support service for anyone trying to stop smoking in Scotland. The service can help by:

• Talking through all the options available to you
• Referring you to free local NHS services
• Sending you a free Quit Your Way Scotland quit pack
• Helping you plan to stop in a way that suits you
• Offering support and advice when you’re trying to quit
• Being there when other support services are closed

For more information and to access help and advice go to: https://www.nhsinform.scot/campaigns/quit-your-way-scotland