Life After Smoking: After 20 Minutes And After 15 Years

Life after smoking: after 20 minutes and after 15 years

Removal of carbon monoxide in a day and a radical reduction in the risk of stroke in 5 years. You can quit smoking at any age, but the sooner the better.

Photo: CC0 Public Domain

It is well known that quitting smoking at any age improves health and prolongs life. It would take a huge article to list all its beneficial effects, referring to scientific papers. In this resource, we will summarize important information on how the health of quitters improves.

A new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the reason for the reminder of what smoking cessation brings to health. It mentions the need to quit smoking. But he focuses on the fact that the health of people who quit smoking is usually still worse than those who have never smoked. Former smokers are more likely to complain of poor health and are more likely to be diagnosed with four or more chronic diseases, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. These risks are the higher, the longer the smoking experience.

The new report does not suggest that smoking cessation is not beneficial. Its results are consistent with evidence for the benefit of quitters: it remains significant after age 60, but is more pronounced for quitters before age 40.

Recall that the CDC themselves talk about the benefits of quitting smoking:

The risk of myocardial infarction drops sharply within one year.

• After two to five years, the risk of stroke in former smokers is practically reduced to that of never smokers.
• Within five years of quitting smoking, the risk of developing cancers of the mouth, larynx, esophagus and bladder drops by half.
• The likelihood of developing many other diseases, including peripheral arterial disease, is reduced.
• Quitting smoking before pregnancy reduces the likelihood of having a low birth weight baby compared to women who continue to smoke.
• Diabetics who quit smoking improve blood sugar control almost immediately.
• After quitting smoking, physical activity is easier.

The official website of the American Cancer Society offers the following timeline for life after smoking:

After 15 minutes, blood pressure decreases, heart rate drops.

• After 12 hours, the level of carbon monoxide in the blood returns to normal.
• After 2 weeks to 3 months, blood circulation and lung function improve.
• Shortness of breath and cough decrease after 1-9 months.
• After 1 year, the risk of heart attack is reduced by 50%.
• After 5 years, the risk of many types of cancer is halved.
• After 10 years, the risk of dying from lung cancer is half that of a smoker.
• After 15 years, the risk of heart attack becomes almost the same as that of a person who has never smoked.

In addition, doctors remind that after quitting smoking, the taste of food becomes more pleasant, breathing becomes fresher, clothes and hair smell better, and you do not have to constantly think about how to smoke if you are in a non-smoking area.

Finally, the World Health Organization provides the following information on the relationship between smoking cessation age and potential increase in life expectancy:

Quitting smoking around the age of 30 gives almost 10 extra years of life.

• About 40 years - 9 years of life.
• About 50 years - 6 years of life.
• About 60 years - 3 years of life.
• After the first heart attack, it reduces the risk of a second heart attack by 50%.

There are more than enough reasons to give up the addiction. Quit smoking and stay healthy!