The Evidence for Quitting Smoking
If you're a cigarette smoker who's been thinking about stopping smoking, you've probably heard that it's a difficult addiction to quit, it will cause you to gain weight and you may even be wondering if it's all going to be worth it. The short answer is, yes. Quitting smoking is the most effective way to prevent heart disease and can reduce your incidence for lung disease by eliminating cyanide, benzene, formaldehyde, methanol, acetylene and ammonia. It is also directly responsible for over 87 percent of lung cancer deaths and has been directly linked to cancers of the pancreas, cervix, kidney and stomach. From the first day you quit, your body will begin to heal itself and, eventually, function like someone who's never smoked. Over the course of months or years, quitting smoking can return your lungs to their original condition, returning their ability to transport oxygen to the tissues and reduce your changes of getting pulmonary disease and lung cancer. It will also significantly reduce your chances of getting bronchitis and other types of cancer not normally associated with cigarette smoking. It starts the first day you stop smoking.
Immediate Effects
Even if you have have smoked for most of your life, there are a number of immediate improvements you'll notice as soon as you quit smoking. People who quit notice that their food instantly begins to taste better and they can smell things they never used to smell due to changes in the delicate cilia and mucous membranes of the mouth and nose. Besides improvements in appetite, longtime smokers notice a long list of improvements of the course of the following years after quitting smoking. Twenty minutes after quitting, smokers' blood pressure returns to normal and circulation of the hands and feed begin to return to normal. Within eight hours after quitting, carbon monoxide levels in the lungs decline to normal levels and within 24 hours, the risk for having a heart attack is similar to non-smokers. Two weeks to three months after smoking cessation, pulmonary functions improve by 30 percent and annoying symptoms like coughing, sinus congestion and shortness of breath begin to return to normal. Both your teeth and fingernails no longer look yellow and even things like climbing a flight of stairs becomes easier.
Benefits Over Time
One year after quitting smoking, abstainers' risk for heart disease of coronary artery disease declines to half of that of a smoker. Ten to 15 years after quitting, abstainers' risk for cancer of the mouth, throat, lungs, bladder, kidney and pancreas returns to that of someone who has never smoked.
