Stop smoking health benefits

The Surgeon General of the United States reports several significant health benefits for people who quit smoking. These include:

• Within 20 minutes of quitting your heart rate drops,
• 12 hours after quitting your carbon monoxide levels drop back to normal,
• 2 weeks to 3 months from quitting your heart attack risk begins to drop and your lung function begins to improve,
• 1 to 9 months after quitting your coughing and shortness of breath begins to decrease,
• 1 year after quitting your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker,
• 5 years after quitting your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smokers 5-15 years after quitting,
• 10 years after quitting your cancer death rate is about half that of a smokers. Your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases,
• 15 years after quitting your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a non-smoker's.

Return to the Quit Smoking main page here.

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