Quit Smoking and Your Health Will Be Improved in 20 Minutes
October 4, 2009 4:36 am quit smokingIf you smoke your last cigarette now, your health will already have improved tomorrow. In fact the healing process will start after a few minutes. 20 minutes is all it takes, before the healing process starts.
20 minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure decreases, your pulse rate drops, and your body temperature of your hands and feet increases. 8 hours later your carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal while oxygen level in blood increases to normal.
24 hours is all it takes, before the chance of heart attack decreases. And 48 hours after you have stopped smoking, your nerve endings begin to growth again. Your ability to smell and taste will also be improved. After 72 hours your breathing will be easier.
In the following weeks and months your circulation will improve. You will also fell that your lung function will increase and walking will be easier. After the first month the nicotine withdrawal symptom will subside, so you only have to think about the psychological need for a cigarette.
On year after you stopped smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half. And smoking is directly linked to 30 % of all heart disease deaths in the United States each year, so this is a very important step.
The long-term benefits do it also make it worth quitting the cigarettes. After 5 years the stroke risk is reduced to the same as people who have never smoked. And after 10 years the risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers. The risk of other types of cancer like mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas also decreases.
15 years after you have stopped smoking, the risk of coronary heart disease is now similar to that of people who have never smoked. Actually the risk of death in general returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked.
So if you stop smoking today, your will be rewarded with an improved health. But it is also important to remember that healing from nicotine addiction is an ongoing process. While some improvements happen quickly, others will come more gradually.
