Quitting Smoking Effects

Quitting Smoking Effects
Quitting Smoking Effects

Quitting smoking has got to be one of the hardest things that you will ever have to do as a smoker. However, did you know that quitting smoking effects can set in as early as 20 minutes after your last puff? It’s true that you would have done some damage already but you also have to believe that it is not too late to quit smoking and reap the benefits. There are short- and long-term quitting smoking effects you can enjoy, the most drastic of which is that you reduce your risks of dying from smoking-related diseases. By just how much? If you quit before you are 51 years old, you reduces risks of dying by half within the next 15 years. Even quitting in your sixties increases your life expectancy by a year so you essentially live longer when you quit smoking.

Short- term effects

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After just 20 minutes since your last cigarette, the body starts responding already to your decision to stop smoking. Some of the short-term quitting smoking effects you can experience include: lowered blood pressure; slower pulse rate; and hand and feet temperature increases. At just eight hours after you stop smoking, your blood actually recovers from smoking effects already, with levels of oxygen and carbon monoxide in your blood normalizing. And within 24 hours, your body gets around to doing repairs and so your risks of getting a heart attack are reduced as well. Within 48 hours of quitting, nerve endings that may have died because of smoking are regenerated and improvements in your sense of smell and taste are experienced. Then within the next few weeks, you will have improved circulation and your lungs will be functioning better. And because your lungs are in a much better shape, walking and exercising now become so much easier as well. You should experience a reduction in phlegm production, which takes care of any wheezing or coughing problems you might have.

Long-term quitting Smoking Effects

While short-term effects are immediately realized, you actually quit smoking because you want to reap the long-term benefits of quitting. Some of the long-term quitting smoking effects you can take advantage of include:

Excess risks of coronary heart disease are reduced to half within one year;
Risks of suffering a stroke are reduced within five years and will continue to be reduced as the years go by;
Risks for lung cancer are halved within 10 years of quitting, alongside reduced risks for ulcers and other cancers like cancer of the bladder, kidneys, pancreas, esophagus, throat, and mouth; and
Risks for coronary heart disease are at a level comparable to what non-smokers have within 15 years of quitting.