Hundreds in York could add years to their lives

More than 750 people in York joined a quarter of a million people across the nation in turning their back on cigarettes this month in the mass 28-day stop smoking challenge, Stoptober.

Research shows that stopping smoking for 28 days can extend your life by up to one week if you remain smokefree.  The new ex-smokers from York are therefore celebrating their first steps towards a healthier, smokefreelife, and if they succeed in quitting for good, they could collectively add more than 14 years of life to the city’s population.

Stop-Smoking-Aids

Taking part in Stoptober has reaped additional benefits:

·The average smoker has 13 cigarettes a day, which equates to 364 cigarettes every four weeks.  Stoptober would have saved them £141 each over four weeks and if they remain smokefree they could save £423 by Christmas and £1,696 in a year.

Collectively, if all Stoptober participants in York quit for the 28 days this month they would have saved £106,314.

·With the average cigarette taking approximately four minutes to smoke [5], this Stoptober could have saved the average smoker over 24 hours by not smoking; and cumulatively the nation’s Stoptober participants would have gained over 680 years in spare time.

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Cancer awareness campaign starts in York

City of York Council is supporting the NHS Be Clear on Cancer ‘Blood in Pee’ campaign.

The campaign will run from 15 October to 20 November 2013 across England. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the key symptom common to both bladder and kidney cancer – blood in pee – and encourage those with this symptom, even if it’s ‘just the once’, to see their doctor straight away. If bladder and kidney cancers are diagnosed early they are more treatable.

Adverts will appear on national TV, radio and in the press.

Around 65 people in York (1774 people in Yorkshire and Humber) are diagnosed with bladder or kidney cancer each year and these cancers account for around 7,500 deaths per year across the country.

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Healthy lifestyle campaign starts in York

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This September Change4Life is asking families in Yorkto make the most of the fresh start of the new school year by signing up to a healthy change when the kids go back to the classroom. Families across York are being encouraged to take on one change for the better, for six weeks – to help them lead healthier lifestyles for longer.

By the end of summer we can all tend to slack off a bit and it’s easy to let good intentions slide. But the new school year is the perfect time for a new beginning and for the whole family to get fit and healthy for the best year yet!

To help families in the York area do this, Change4Life is encouraging them to sign up to the FREE Smart Restart campaign and pick one healthy change for them to try when they go back to school.

Once signed up, families will receive support from Change4Life via email and text messages for six weeks from the start of term, as well as details of special offers, competitions and virtual rewards for the kids.

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