Quitting Smoking: 4 Quick Benefits

Quitting smoking and the use of other forms of tobacco is probably the single greatest lifestyle change you can make to improve your long-term health. Every time you puff on a cigarette, you risk damaging nearly every organ in your body.

Smoking is a major factor in the development of diseases such as heart disease, cancer, pneumonia and emphysema. Smoking also affects short-term health. For example, smoking damages the immune system, making you more vulnerable to infections. Smoking also prematurely ages the appearance of facial skin.

It can be difficult to quit smoking once you've started. However, kicking the habit yields tremendous health benefits. Some of these improvements begin almost immediately while others kick in over the next year. They include:

Drop in heart rate and blood pressure. When you smoke, the nicotine inside the cigarette causes your blood vessels to constrict. This impairs circulation and triggers a spike in both heart rate and blood pressure. Within 20 minutes of quitting smoking, both heart rate and blood pressure begin to improve. Further significant improvement in circulation may continue over the next two weeks to three months.
Reduction in carbon monoxide level inside the blood. Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless gas that is toxic and potentially life-threatening in high doses. Cigarette smoke contains CO, and smokers tend to have CO-saturated blood, which impairs the blood's ability to carry oxygen. This makes exercise more difficult. About 12 hours after you quit smoking, the carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal levels.
Increase in lung function. Smoking damages the airways and small air sacs within the lungs. This leads to chronic coughing and wheezing. Eventually, it may become difficult to breathe. Your lung function may begin to improve anywhere from two weeks to three months after you quit. Coughing and shortness of breath may begin to subside. Tiny hair-like structures known as cilia may recover inside the lungs, allowing you to better handle mucus that builds up. This helps keep the lungs clean and reduces the risk of infection.
Reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Smoking is closely linked with coronary heart disease, which causes more deaths in the United States than any other condition. If you smoke, your risk of developing this illness increases by two to four times. However, one year after you quit smoking, your risk drops to half that of a smoker.

Future Improvements

The benefits of quitting continue to accumulate for years after you put out your last cigarette. For example, five to 15 years after quitting, your risk of stroke is equivalent to that of a nonsmoker. Ten years after quitting, the risk of lung cancer drops to half that of a current smoker. By the time you’ve reached 15 years without smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease will equal that of a nonsmoker.

Risks for other cancers also are greater for smokers than nonsmokers. After quitting, the risks for these cancers also drop over time. This includes cancer of the cervix, mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder and pancreas.

Quitting smoking can be very difficult, and many people who have successfully quit required more than one try before they succeeded. Withdrawal symptoms – such as nervousness, headaches, irritability or difficulty sleeping – are common, and often cause people to return to their habit. However, growing evidence shows that success rates increase when people seek outside help to quit.

Many programs are offered by the American Cancer Society (ACS) and American Lung Association to help people quit using tobacco. There are also numerous over-the-counter and prescription products, such as nicotine gums and patches. Psychological counseling also can help you kick the habit for good.

If you are having difficulty quitting, talk to your physician about which form of help may be the best for you.

For more information, see the Kick Butt: Stop Smoking Today! message board.