Smoking is an addiction and your body makes changes when it tries to overcome an addiction. These changes can be immediate and uncomfortable, such as symptoms of withdrawal, while others cause improvements in overall health and well-being.
Potential
All of the diseases caused by cigarette smoking negatively impact your quality of life long before you die. Your body becomes limited in what it can do. Smoking makes it harder to breathe, get around, work or play, according to the American Cancer Society. Therefore, after you quit your quality of life will improve because your body no longer be limited by the health problems incurred as a result of your addiction.
Acute Effects
According to the American Cancer Society, short-term benefits of quitting include: heart rate and blood pressure drop within 20 minutes of quitting; carbon monoxide blood levels drop to normal after 12 hours; circulation improves and lung function increases two to three weeks after your quit date.
During the first nine months smoke free, your coughing and shortness of breath will improve, and the tiny cilia hairs in your lungs will regain function, which allows your body to handle mucus and clean your lungs, reducing the risk of infections. Also, you will begin to experience the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
Considerations
When you first quit smoking you will experience withdrawal symptoms; your body is no longer receiving the amount of nicotine it was used to. According to the American Cancer Society, symptoms of withdrawal usually begin within hours of your last cigarette, peaking about two to three days later, and can continue for a few days or up to several weeks. Symptoms of nicotine withdrawal include anxiety, irritability, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, strong cravings, depressed mood, frustration or anger, increased appetite, insomnia, cough, chest tightness and constipation or diarrhea, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Long -Term Effects
During the next 15 years, your body will begin to repair itself and continue to improve in health. After year one your chance of coronary heart disease is reduced by 50 percent; after five years your risk of stroke becomes equal to that of a non-smoker; after 10 years your risk of lung cancer among other cancers is reduced by about 50 percent and 15 years after you quit your risk of coronary heart disease becomes equal to that of a nonsmoker, as reported by the American Cancer Society. Quitting will help to slow the onset of wrinkles, and will make you much less likely to experience the premature aging of your skin and yellowing of your teeth and fingers that are characteristics of aging smokers, as reported by FamilyDoctor.org.
Significance
It has been estimated that as a smoker you lose close to a decade and a half of your life to your addiction, according to the America Cancer Society. The ACS goes on to point out that if you quit by the age of 30 you usually halt of all the health risks associated with smoking and if you quit before 50 you drastically reduce your chances of dying early as a result of cigarettes. People who continue to smoke suffer from diseases such as chronic bronchitis, emphysema, heart attacks, strokes and cancer.
