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When You Quit Smoking

• Your blood pressure drops to a normal rate for you.

• The temperature of your hands an feet increases to normal.

8 hours

• The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.                                                                                          

• The oxygen level in your blood goes up to normal.

24 hours

• Your chance of a heart attack goes down.

48 hours

• nerve endings start re-growing.

• Ability to smell and taste begins to improve.

2 weeks to 3 months

• Your circulation improves.

• Walking gets easier.

• Your lungs perform up to 30 percent better.

1 to 9 months

• There's less coughing, sinus congestion, tiredness, and shortness of breath.

• Cilia (tiny hairs) re-grow in your lungs to better handle mucous, clean your lungs, and reduce infection.

1 year after quitting

• Your extra risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's

5 to 15 years

• Your stroke risk goes down to that of a nonsmoker.

10 years after quitting

• The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a person who still smokes.

• Your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas goes down.

15 years after quitting

• Your risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker's.

The National Institutes of Health add:

Your personal risk factors for dying early, and your chance of developing and dying from cancer due to cigarettes, depend on a few things:

• How many years you smoked.

• How many cigarettes your smoked each day.

• The age you began smoking.

• Whether or not you have cancer or another illness when you quit.

Other Benefits

As you can see from the list above, ex-smokers generally have better health than those who smoke.  Ask your QuitLine specialist about the other health benefits for you and your family when you quit smoking or chewing tobacco.

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