Stop Smoking Advantages

What Happens to Your Body When You Stop Smoking?

• Caucasians tend to smoke more cigarettes than African-American men, but black men are 34 percent more likely than white men to develop lung cancer.
• Black women tend to smoke less than white women, too, but the two groups have similar lung cancer rates.
• About 45,000 of us die each year from smoking-related diseases.

• Caucasians tend to smoke more cigarettes than African-American men, but black men are 34 percent more likely than white men to develop lung cancer.
• Black women tend to smoke less than white women, too, but the two groups have similar lung cancer rates.
• About 45,000 of us die each year from smoking-related diseases.

But you can change these statistics dramatically by quitting! What happens to your body when you quit? Your body starts getting healthier, almost immediately! 

The advantages to stopping smoking are:

• Your blood pressure and heart rate drop to normal 20 minutes after your last cigarette.
• Two hours after you quit, circulation to your fingers and toes improves. (Note: Nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually start about two hours after your last cigarette. Symptoms include cravings, anxiety, trouble sleeping and increased appetite. These usually ease after two weeks.)
• Eight to 12 hours after your last puff, the level of carbon monoxide in your bloodstream drops to normal and the oxygen level rises to normal.
• Your chances of a heart attack decrease after just 24 hours! The heart attack rate for smokers is 70 percent higher than for non-smokers.
• You start to smell and taste things more vividly again after 48 hours without a cigarette.
• Two to three weeks after you quit, you’ll be able to exercise without feeling winded.
• At the three-month mark, your circulation improves and your lung function increases up to 30 percent.
• By the 9 month mark or sooner, you have increased energy. Coughing and shortness of breath are greatly reduced. You are less likely to contract lung infections.
• A year after you quit smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.
• Five years after you dump this bad habit, your risk of esophageal, lung, mouth and throat cancers drops dramatically. Your risk of having a stroke is the same as your other nonsmoking pals.
• Ten years after smoking, your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s. (This is great news; smoking accounts for 90 percent of lung cancer deaths worldwide.)
• Fifteen years after you put out the butts, your risk of heart disease is the same as someone who doesn’t smoke.

• Your blood pressure and heart rate drop to normal 20 minutes after your last cigarette.
• Two hours after you quit, circulation to your fingers and toes improves. (Note: Nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually start about two hours after your last cigarette. Symptoms include cravings, anxiety, trouble sleeping and increased appetite. These usually ease after two weeks.)
• Eight to 12 hours after your last puff, the level of carbon monoxide in your bloodstream drops to normal and the oxygen level rises to normal.
• Your chances of a heart attack decrease after just 24 hours! The heart attack rate for smokers is 70 percent higher than for non-smokers.
• You start to smell and taste things more vividly again after 48 hours without a cigarette.
• Two to three weeks after you quit, you’ll be able to exercise without feeling winded.
• At the three-month mark, your circulation improves and your lung function increases up to 30 percent.
• By the 9 month mark or sooner, you have increased energy. Coughing and shortness of breath are greatly reduced. You are less likely to contract lung infections.
• A year after you quit smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.
• Five years after you dump this bad habit, your risk of esophageal, lung, mouth and throat cancers drops dramatically. Your risk of having a stroke is the same as your other nonsmoking pals.
• Ten years after smoking, your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s. (This is great news; smoking accounts for 90 percent of lung cancer deaths worldwide.)
• Fifteen years after you put out the butts, your risk of heart disease is the same as someone who doesn’t smoke.

So don’t wait – change your life and stop smoking today!