SPECIALISTS in Yorkshire are urging smokers in the county to take part in the 'Stoptober' initiative to improve their health.

Specsavers is encouraging Yorkshire residents to take part in 'Stoptober' - where smokers give up cigarettes for a whole month to show it’s possible to give up the habit for good.

According to research, former smokers who stop smoking for 28 days are five times as likely to quit for good.

Giles Edmonds, Specsavers clinical services director, said: "Studies have shown that smoking can double your chances of developing cataracts, triple the chances of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), increase the risk of inflammation of the middle layer of the eye and double the risk of diabetes, which in turn could lead to diabetic retinopathy."

Meanwhile, Gordon Harrison, Specsavers chief audiologist, said smoking can have a real impact on your hearing as nicotine lowers blood oxygen levels which constricts blood vessels in the body.

He said: "This can cause problems for your inner ear, which is where the sensitive hair cells live. These hair cells help conduct sound to your brain but if there is a lack of blood flow these can become damaged or destroyed.

"Unfortunately, once damaged, they cannot be restored, so neither can any hearing loss which results from this."