FOR hundreds of thousands of smokers their New Year resolution to quit will by now have failed. Despite the British Heart Foundation's shock "Give up before you clog up" advertising campaign most of those who started 2004 with such good intentions are already lighting up again.
Giving up smoking is one of the most popular New Year resolutions - three million people in Britain try each year - and also one of the toughest to keep. Of those who wanted to kick the habit in 2003, a quarter lasted just a few hours...and half only a couple of days.
More than 20 per cent of all male deaths and 11 per cent of all female deaths are due to smoking. One in two regular smokers will die from their habit, half of them before the age of 65. The Sunday Mirror tried to help three smoking celebrities to give up cigarettes using different methods. Actress Danniella Westbrook attended Allen Carr's Easy Way to Stop Smoking Course, Emmerdale's Nicola Wheeler tried a method known as Thought Field Therapy, and Family Affairs star Nicola Duffett had a go at kicking the habit by using nicotine patches.
