Category: Smokerlyzer

National No Smoking Day is an annual awareness day that serves as a campaign for greater awareness about the health dangers associated with smoking¹. Bedfont^® Scientific Ltd. has been helping people stop smoking for over 35 years with their Smokerlyzer^® product range, which gives users instant Carbon Monoxide (CO) readings using a motivational traffic light system to guide them towards their quit goal.

Reports from NHS Stop Smoking Services in England between April 2021 and March 2022 have shown that of 178,198 adults setting a quit date, 54.8% were successful (97,654). And of those successfully quitting, 6.8% (6,640) had their results confirmed with a CO verification². It’s never too late for patients to benefit from stopping smoking, as being a non-smoker or at least reducing the use of cigarettes, can improve the chances of being more physically active and healthier as we get older³.

Out of the over 8 million global deaths related to tobacco each year, over 7 million of those deaths are from direct tobacco use, while 1.2 million are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke⁴. Establishing a patient’s smoking status is a great way in providing them with helpful analysis and guidance throughout their stop smoking journey.

Studies have shown the attitudes that smokers have towards quitting smoking when using a handheld CO monitoring device. One study noted that out of 15.5% of people that were planning on quitting in the next 30 days, 75.3% reported the CO device increased their motivation, with 73.1% reported that seeing their CO levels made them want to quit smoking. Furthermore, after 12 weeks, the number of cigarettes smoked per day decreased by 41.4%⁵.

The Smokerlyzer^® range by Bedfont^® consists of 4 handheld breath analysis monitors, Micro^+™, piCO^baby™, piCO^™, and iCOquit^® – each of which tests the level of CO in a smoker’s blood. High levels of CO in the blood can lead to smoking related diseases such as heart disease, circulation problems and high blood pressure. The onscreen instant results for each monitor, coinciding with the interpretation guide provided, makes understanding results easy and convenient when acknowledging which traffic light system bracket a patient falls underneath.

Visit https://www.bedfont.com/smokerlyzer to learn more about how you can aid patients to stop smoking, one breath at a time, with the Smokerlyzer^® range.

References:

1. Twinkl.co.uk. [cited 2023Feb2]. Available from: https://www.twinkl.co.uk/event/no-smoking-day-2023
2. Statistics on NHS Stop Smoking Services in England- April 2021 to March 2022 [Internet]. NHS. 2022. [Cited 20^th February 2023]. Available from: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-nhs-stop-smoking-services-in-england/april-2021-to-march-2022
3. Smoking [Internet]. BHF. [cited 2023Feb2]. Available from: https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/smoking
4. Tobacco [Internet]. World Health Organisation. 2022. [Cited 10th February 2023]. Available from: https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco
5. Marler JD, Fujii CA, Wong KS, Galanko JA, Balbierz DJ, and Utley DS. Assessment of a personal interactive carbon monoxide breath sensor in people who smoke cigarettes: single-arm cohort study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020;22(10):1-24. DOI: 10.2196/22811.

Stoptober is an annual initiative that encourages smokers to refrain from smoking for 28 days in October to serve as a stepping stone to permanently quitting.¹ Bedfont^® Scientific Ltd has been helping people stop smoking for over 35 years with their Smokerlyzer^® range, which gives users instant Carbon Monoxide (CO) readings using a motivational traffic light system to guide them towards their quit goal.

Statistics from the NHS show that in 2020, 506,100 hospital admissions were attributable to smoking², which is 10% higher than 2009/10. However, thanks to stop smoking efforts and tools such as the Smokerlyzer^®, in just over 10 years, UK deaths attributable to smoking have decreased by 9%², although a figure of 74,600 deaths² is still very alarming.

By analysing a breath sample, the Smokerlyzer^® can tell how much CO is in your lungs and blood that has been inhaled from smoking. Smoking builds high levels of CO in the blood, which can lead to heart disease, circulation problems, and high blood pressure. The Smokerlyzer^® is a useful tool for Stop Smoking Services to establish a smoker’s status, whilst acting as a motivational visual aid to encourage patients to quit smoking and to measure their progress whilst doing so, helping individuals kick their tobacco habit, preventing cancers and other smoking related diseases attributed to smoking tobacco.

An assessment of cigarette smokers using a CO monitor by Marler et al. (2020), found that 75.3% reported the CO monitoring increased their motivation to quit, over 90% of smokers indicated the CO monitor taught them about their CO levels and their smoking behaviour, and 73.1% reported that seeing their CO levels made them want to quit smoking.³

Visit www.https://www.bedfont.com/smokerlyzer to learn more about how you can aid patients to stop smoking, one breath at a time, with the Smokerlyzer^® range this Stoptober.

References:

1. What is Stoptober? [Internet]. Thestoptober.co.uk. 2022 [cited 23 September 2022]. Available from: https://thestoptober.co.uk/what-is-stoptober/

2. Digital N, Statistics on Smoking E, Smoking S, Statistics on Smoking E, tables S, Author C. Statistics on Smoking, England 2020 – NHS Digital [Internet]. NHS Digital. 2022 [cited 19 October 2022]. Available from: https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/statistics-on-smoking/statistics-on-smoking-england-2020

3. Marler JD, Fujii CA, Wong KS, Galanko JA, Balbierz DJ, and Utley DS. Assessment of a personal interactive carbon monoxide breath sensor in people who smoke cigarettes: single-arm cohort study. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020;22(10):1-24. PMID: 32894829 PMCID: PMC7568220 DOI: 10.2196/22811.

Since 2012, Stoptober has been a successful campaign in helping people kick the habit; studies show that if you quit smoking for at least 28 days, you’re 5 times more likely to quit completely.

The Smokerlyzer^® range of CO monitors for smoking cessation have been helping people to kick the habit for over 35 years worldwide. Quick, and easy to use, the monitor has a full-colour touchscreen and displays results using a traffic-light system, to help motivate patients to quit smoking.

Carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring is an effective tool for reinforcing motivation during quit attempts as well as validating outcomes, and to help you continue providing excellent smoking cessation consultations and behavioural support, Bedfont^® has created some valuable resources to help you safely and effectively resume CO breath testing, including a step-by-step how-to guide and video.

For services that are not yet seeing patients face to face, the latest Smokerlyzer^®, iCOquit^®, is a personal CO monitor with instant results, ideal for remote CO monitoring.

To watch the videos or download these resources, please visit How-to resume CO breath testing with the Smokerlyzer^®.