• Smoking just three to six cigarettes each day doubles your chance of having a heart attack.
• Smokers are more than twice as likely to have a fatal heart attack than non-smokers.
• One in five people in Britain die from smoking - that's more than 115,000 every year.
• About half of all regular smokers will eventually be killed by their habit.
• On average, UK smokers who die in middle age lose 21 years of life.

Smoking causes heart disease - the facts

• Smoking is a major risk factor for coronary heart disease. Others include high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol levels and physical inactivity.
• CHD is Britain's single biggest killer. Every two minutes someone in the UK has a heart attack.
• Non-smokers living with smokers have a 30% increased risk of developing CHD.
• Around five million children are regularly exposed to second hand smoke in the home.
• Smoking enhances the build up of fatty deposits - atheroma - in the walls of our arteries, restricting blood flow and increasing the risk of a heart attack.
• This build up of fatty deposits can trigger formation of blood clots, which can block blood flow causing a heart attack or stroke.
• Smoking reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen, depriving the heart of vital nutrients.

Giving up smoking - the facts

• Around one in four people in Britain smoke cigarettes.
• In California, where only one in six people smoke, there is a ban on smoking in public places, higher taxation and greater use of shock advertising tactics.
• Around 70% of smokers want to give up.
• If you've had a heart attack, continuing to smoke doubles your risk of having another heart attack within one year.
• Stopping smoking is the single most important thing a smoker can do to avoid a heart attack. It's always beneficial to stop.