Benefits of Cessation
- Regardless of age, smokers who quit live longer than people who continue
to smoke.
- Smokers who quit before age 50 have half the risk of dying in the
next 15 years compared with those who continue to smoke.
- Smokers who quit substantially decrease their risk of lung, laryngeal,
esophageal, oral, pancreatic, bladder, and cervical cancers.
- Smokers who quit reduce their risk for other major diseases including coronary heart disease and cardiovascular disease.
Regardless of your age, you will live longer and feel better if you quit
smoking. The following table shows some of the changes that will occur
after you quit smoking. The extent to which these risks diminish depends
on the amount of cigarettes smoked and the length of time, but even the
very old and those who have had a heart attack reduce their chances of
premature death. In some cases, ex-smokers can cut their risk of another
heart attack by half or more.
The Benefits of Quitting By Length of Time Since Last Cigarette
| Time since last cigarette | Physiological Changes |
| 20 minutes | Blood pressure drops to a level near that before the last cigarette. Temperature of hands an feet increase to normal. |
| 8 hours | Carbon monoxide level in blood returns to normal. |
| 24 hours | Chance of heart attack decreases. |
| 48 hours | Ability to smell and taste improves. |
| 1 month to 9 months | Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease; cilia regain normal function in lungs which increase ability to handle mucus and reduces the risk of infection. |
| 1 Year | Risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker. |
| 5 year | Stroke risk reduced to that of a non-smoker 5 to 15 years after quitting. |
| 10 years | Lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker; risk of cancer of mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease. |
| 15 years | Risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker. |
| READ MORE ABOUT . . . |
