Stop Smoking to Prevent Cancer & Heart Disease! What Happens After You Quit Smoking, learn about the health benefits here. Cigarette smoking accounts for being one of the leading causes of preventable death in the United States. However, smoking cigarettes is a very vicious vice that is difficult to stop. It would entail a plan and a lot of will power for someone to quit smoking successfully.
To give you an idea of what happens to your body after you smoke your last cigarette, we will be giving you a detailed timeline below. But good news first, positive changes in your body can happen in as early as 20 minutes.
What Happens After You Quit Smoking
So you know it’s time to quit smoking, but lets really dive into What Happens After You Quit Smoking!
After 1 hour
Even 20 minutes after you last smoked, there will be improvements in your body. Your heart rate and blood pressure begin to drop, resulting in an improvement in blood circulation.
After 12 hours
Cigarette smoking allows you to inhale toxins like carbon monoxide, a gas that is harmful and fatal when taken in large doses. It also prevents oxygen from entering both your lungs and blood.
12 hours after your last cigarette, your blood will be able to clean itself from excess toxins. Therefore, normalizing your carbon monoxide level and increasing oxygen absorption in your body.
After 1 day
A day after you quit smoking, the risk of heart attack starts to decrease.
Smoking increases the risk of the development of coronary heart disease because it lowers good cholesterol. It also raises blood pressure and improves blood clots’ information, therefore increasing the risk of stroke.
After one day, these risks begin to decrease. As your blood’s oxygen level increases, it will be more comfortable for you to perform physical activities and do exercise.
After 2 days
You will notice a heightened sense of smell and taste as your nerves start healing. Smoking causes damage to nerve endings that are responsible for your sense of smell and taste.
After 3 days
Nicotine levels in your body will start to deplete, and that can lead to nicotine withdrawal. Usually, you will experience moodiness, irritability, severe headaches, and cravings. You have to fight this off.
After 1 month
Lung function begins to improve, and you will notice less coughing and shortness of breath. You can also do more physical activities.
After 1-3 months
Your circulation will continue to improve.
After 9 months
After 9 months, a smoker’s lungs will make a significant recovery. Cilia, delicate, hair-like structures in the lungs will have recovered and will push out mucus from the lungs and help fight infections.
Since the cilia have healed, they can do a better job of fending off possible lung infections.
After 1 year
The risk for coronary heart disease already decreased by half, and the bet will go down further as the years passed.
After 5 years
Your arteries will begin to widen again, and your body has healed. Cigarettes contain toxins that cause your arteries and blood vessels to narrow, increasing the risk of developing blood clots.
But the widening of your arteries and blood vessel means lowering the risk of blood clots, therefore, reducing the risk of stroke.
After 10 years
The chances of developing cancer have significantly reduced. Developing lung cancer and the possibility of dying from it is already cut to half. The risk of developing mouth, throat, or pancreatic cancer is also significantly reduced.
After 15 years
By this time, you will be on equal footing as a non-smoker when it comes to the development of coronary heart disease and pancreatic cancer.
After 20 years
The risk of dying due to a lung disease or cancer is now on the same level as a person who has never tried smoking.
What Happens After You Quit Smoking Conclusion
So we see all of the benefits to quitting smoking, and we really hope this helps you to stop! Quitting smoking is a very tough challenge. You will have to go through different steps before you will be successful and need constant support to fall into a relapse.
But what our timeline tells you is that letting go of this harmful habit will allow you to reap more health benefits. In as early as 20 minutes, you will be able to experience improvement in your health. In the long run, you can see how time can reverse the risks of smoking.
Yes, smoking can give us temporary comfort in every cigarette stick, but if you also have to weigh its consequences long term.
Here is a great resource to help you stop smoking. You can also check out more of our health & fitness guides here on Local NYC.
Recent Comments & Reviews