The Nine Top Reasons to Quit Now
Many of tobacco's detrimental health effects can be
reduced or largely removed through smoking cessation. The health
benefits over time of stopping smoking
include:
- Within 20 minutes after quitting, blood
pressure and heart rate decrease
- Within 12 hours, carbon monoxide levels in the blood decrease
to normal
- Within 48 hours, nerve endings and sense of
smell and taste both start recovering
- Within 3
months, circulation and lung
function improve
- Within 9 months, there are
decreases in cough and shortness of breath
- Within 1
year, the risk of coronary heart disease is cut in
half
- Within 5 years, the risk of stroke falls
to the same as a non-smoker, and the risks of many cancers
(mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix) decrease
significantly
-
Within 10 years, the risk of dying
from lung cancer is cut in half, and the risks of
larynx and pancreas cancers decrease
-
Within 15 years,
the risk of coronary heart disease drops to the level of a
non-smoker; lowered risk for developing COPD (chronic
obstructive pulmonary
disease)
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