The Health Effect When You Don't Quit Smoking
(And When You Do Quit)
Scientific studies on the health risks for those who don't quit smoking go back to the 1950s. Four decades later, with all we've learned about the harmful effects of smoking, statistics show that 28% of males 18 years old and above and 23% of females in the same age bracket continue to smoke.
What is the potential health effect if you don't quit smoking?
You've heard all the usual effects: heart disease, lung disease, cancers (bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach, and acute myeloid leukemia). But studies are showing other effects that have been overlooked in the past. For instance, a recent study showed that seniors are five times more likely to decline mentally if they are smokers than if they are not. In fact, smoking is believed to influence the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease for those who smoke regularly.
Other studies have shown that women smokers generally have smaller, weaker babies. In addition, women who smoke are more likely to lose their child to sudden infant death syndrome, also called SIDS, than those who do not smoke. Some studies suggest the SIDS rate among babies of smoking mothers is nearly twice that of babies from non-smoking mothers.
Smoking nearly doubles a person's risk of stroke. It narrows the blood vessels and reduces circulation. It can adversely affect infertility. It lowers the bone density of post-menopausal women. The devastating effects go on and on.
What, then, is the effect when you quit smoking?
So many of the health benefits that arise when you quit smoking seem long term. However, the truth of the matter is this: few people actually understand how fast their health will benefit from quitting. The initial health benefits actually occur less than half an hour after the last cigarette. The first improvement occurs within twenty minutes as both your pulse rate and blood pressure will return to the levels of a non-smoker. Eight hours later, both the nicotine and the carbon monoxide levels in the bloodstream will diminish by fifty percent. Concurrently, the oxygen levels in the bloodstream will return to normal.
But there are even more immediate effects from quitting.
After one day, the carbon monoxide in your body will have been completely purged. Your lungs will begin to rid themselves of the bits and the mucus that smoking leaves behind. Your chance of having a heart attack is diminished. After two days the nicotine in your system is gone. After three days, you'll find your breathing is easier as the bronchial tubes relax. You'll also feel your energy level improve.
Between three and nine months after the last cigarette you'll experience a reduction in coughing and breathing difficulties. Your lung function will have improved by ten percent. You'll feel less tired. And by your first anniversary of no longer smoking, you'll see your risk of heart attack drop by fifty percent.
The quit smoking effect is much swifter than most people realize.
Isn't it time to get off cigarettes?
We've listed several methods to help you stop smoking in our menu on the left. Check them out. Find the one that's right for you, and get started today.
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