'Quit cigs' says MP Pauline Latham whose mum died of cancer
AN MP has made a heartfelt plea to smokers to give up the habit after explaining how her mother died of cancer.
Mid Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham was speaking out to mark National No Smoking Day today.
Mrs Latham said: "I have never had a puff of a cigarette. Having watched my mother die from lung cancer I would do anything to stop people smoking".
Her mother, Anne Warrener, quit smoking 40 cigarettes a day nine-and-a-half years before her death, aged 62, after the cancer spread to her brain.
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She said her mother had started smoking, aged 14, as we wanted to "look older".
Mrs Latham said: "If I had a choice I would ban cigarettes from the country entirely. I would encourage people to quit today, especially those with children, as second-hand smoking is a terrible thing."
The MP is supporting the annual health campaign, run by the British Heart Foundation, which shows how smokers could treat themselves to all sorts of "swag" if they quit for a day (saving £7), a week (£49), a month (£210) and a year (£2,555).
Mrs Latham said: "Stopping smoking is not only one of the best things you can do to boost your health but it's great for your bank balance as well."
A survey, conducted on behalf of the BHF's 30th annual No Smoking Day, found that 11% of smokers want to kick the habit. And 82% of 2,000 UK smokers surveyed had tried and failed to quit.
A new survey has said that giving up smoking reduces the risk of heart disease even when it results in significant weight gain.
Obesity is a recognised risk factor for heart disease, leading experts to wonder if weight gain might cancel out some benefits of quitting.
But new findings from the study, involving more than 3,000 participants, demonstrated that those fears were unfounded, at least for people without diabetes.
Former smokers who had stayed away from tobacco for more than four years had a 54% lower risk of heart and artery disease than smokers.
Recent quitters who had stopped smoking for up to four years experienced almost the same benefit with a 53% lower risk.
This was despite recent quitters typically gaining five to 10 pounds over four years, and long-term quitters one to two pounds.
Comments
by DerbyTom
Wednesday, March 13 2013, 7:41PM
“Get off your hobby horse lots of familys have lost loved one's be it from smokeing drinking booze what ever it don't mean people have to stop enjoying there pleasures in life.
Why don't MP's keep there private lifes to themselfs and stop trying to get cheap publicity and sympathy off of others.”