A new Government campaign is encouraging people to quit smoking by highlighting the toxic effects of cigarettes on the heart, brain and lungs. Public Health England’s ‘Smokefree Health Harms’ campaign depicts how the dangerous chemicals in cigarettes, including arsenic and cyanide, get into the bloodstream and damage major organs.

The campaign is based on research published in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed that smokers are twice as likely to die from a stroke as non-smokers because smoking narrows the arteries, increasing the risk of a blood clot. England’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies said: “We know about the serious effect smoking has on the heart and lungs, but smokers need to be aware of how much potential damage is being done to the brain and other vital organs through toxins in cigarettes entering the blood.”