Smoking cessation
Smoking will increase the risk of renal failure, visual impairment, foot ulcers, leg amputations and heart attacks. Smoking will worsen all vascular diabetic complications. Current guidance and evidence supports smoking cessation. Insulin absorption from an injection site depends on a good capillary blood supply. Nicotine inhaled from cigarettes constricts blood vessels and thereby slows the insulin uptake into the blood stream (Suarez and Barrett-Connor 1984; Targher et al 1997).
Full details of the bracketed citations in the text above are available in the reference list within this resource. Go to the Reference list.
Resources
You will find here links to evidence-based resources which support this topic. You may also want to refer to information about the national service frameworks and strategies across the UK.
Guidelines and guidance
NICE Public health guidance (2006) Brief interventions and referral for smoking cessation in primary care and other setting
The guidance (Public Health Intervention Guidance number one) considers whether brief smoking cessation interventions are effective at encouraging individuals to quit smoking.
NICE Public health guidance (2008) Preventing the uptake of smoking by children and young people
The recommendations in the guidance focus on mass-media and point-of-sales measures. These should be combined with regulation, education, cessation support and other activities as part of a comprehensive strategy.
Systematic reviews and evidence summaries
These are examples of some of the systematic reviews in the Cochrane Database of systematic reviews. You can find others by accessing the Cochrane Library and searching on smoking cessation.
For further information see also the section in Skill development on the Cochrane Library.
Cochrane Review: Nursing interventions for smoking cessation
“This review of clinical trials covered 42 studies, with more than 15,000 participants included in the analyses. It found that advice and support from nursing staff could increase people's success in quitting smoking, especially in a hospital setting. Similar advice and encouragement given by nurses at health checks or prevention activities seems to be less effective, but may still have some impact”.
Cochrane Review: Internet-based interventions for smoking cessation
The authors conclude that “results suggest that some Internet-based interventions can assist smoking cessation, especially if the information is appropriately tailored to the users and frequent automated contacts with the users are ensured, however trials did not show consistent effects”.
Cochrane Review: Interventions for preventing weight gain after smoking cessation
This looks at the evidence around a range of drug and behavioural treatments.
Cochrane Review: Interventions for smoking cessation in hospitalised patients
The authors summary states that this review of trials “found that programmes to stop smoking that begin during a hospital stay and include follow-up support for at least one month after discharge are effective. Such programmes are effective when administered to all hospitalised smokers, regardless of admitting diagnosis, and in the subset of smokers who are admitted to hospital with cardiovascular disease”.
Other resources
NHS Choices: Stop smoking
Practical, quick and simple steps to help with stopping smoking.
NHS Health Scotland: A guide to smoking cessation in Scotland
This guide contains three document: Helping smokers to stop: brief interventions; Planning and providing specialist smoking cessation services; Brief interventions flowchart.
Stop smoking Wales
Provides information and details about the support available.
Want 2 stop!
This site from the HSC Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland has information and tips about stopping smoking and about cessation services.
There are separate resources lists for other specific aspects of treatment and lifestyle. Go to: Treatment and lifestyle topics.