Smoking causes about 400,000 Americans to die annually. This is more people than are killed annually by AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, fires, homicides, illegal drugs, poor diet, sedentary lifestyles and suicides combined, according to the "Essentials for Health and Wellness" book. However, the damage of long-term smoking isn't always irreparable. "When you quit smoking, the body starts to repair itself almost immediately," according to the American Cancer Society.
Lung Cancer
Lung cancer is the primary cause of cancer deaths for American men and women, according to "Essentials for Health and Wellness." About 178,000 Americans are diagnosed with lung cancer annually, and about 160,000 eventually die of the disease. However, ex-smokers have a 60 percent lower lung cancer risk than current smokers five years after quitting and are "no more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmokers" 15 years after quitting, according to the "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease" book.
Other Cancers
Smoking causes bladder, colon, esophagus, kidney, larynx, lip, pancreas, pharynx, salivary glands and tongue cancer, according to "The Well Adult" book. Your risk of getting "all these forms of cancer" falls as soon as you quit. It is the same as someone who never smoked within 15 years of quitting if you smoked less than one pack of cigarettes daily. Your risk is cut 90 percent if you smoked more than two packs a day, although it is still two to three times the risk of lifelong nonsmokers.
Heart Disease
Smoking doubles the risk of heart disease and causes about 180,000 Americans to die annually of heart disease. However, female ex-smokers "have the same mortality rate from heart disease as nonsmokers only two to three years after quitting," Ornish's book reports. Male ex-smokers have the same cardiovascular disease death rate as nonsmokers 10 years after quitting, and their risk of dying because of a heart attack is cut in half within one year of quitting smoking.
Everyday Benefits
The health effects of quitting smoking are often immediate. Studies show ex-smokers have fewer colds, coughs and infections shortly after quitting, Ornish writes. You will also have cleaner teeth, less fatigue, more energy and more stamina for exercise if you quit smoking, according to "The Well Adult." In addition, your sexual performance will improve within six weeks of quitting.
Warning
The health effects of quitting smoking are not 100 percent positive. That is because the nicotine in cigarettes is an addictive drug, and about 80 percent of ex-smokers have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. The negative health effects of withdrawal include anxiety, concentration problems, drowsiness, headaches, irritability, restlessness and sleeping problems, according to Ornish. Nicotine gum, lozenges and patches help people fight nicotine withdrawal and are recommended because nicotine is not responsible for smokers' high cancer and heart disease risks.
References
- "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program For Reversing Heart Disease"; Dr. Dean Ornish; 1996
- "Essentials for Health and Wellness;" Gordon Edlin, Eric Golanty, Kelli McCormack Brown; 2000
- "The Well Adult"; Dr. Mike Samuels and Nancy Samuels; 1988
