One of the best things a smoker can do is quit smoking. The health benefits of quitting occur for all smokers, regardless of age, sex or length of time that they have been smoking.
People who have already developed smoking-related health problems, like heart disease will also benefit from quitting.
- Within hours of quitting smoking the nicotine and carbon monoxide in your blood decreases, while the oxygen level in your blood increases.
- Within days your sense of smell and taste begin to improve, breathing and exercising become easier, even your chances of having a heart attack have been reduced.
- Within one month your circulation will improve and your blood pressure and pulse rate will decrease.
- Within three months, cilia (the small hairs inside your lungs) have begun to re grow. This improves your lungs' ability to clean themselves. Lung function may be increased by up to 30 per cent.
- Within one year, your risk of a heart attack is reduced by half.
- Within 10 years your risk of dying from lung cancer is reduced by half.
- Within 15 years your risk of dying from a heart attack is equal to a person who has never smoked.
By choosing to quit smoking, you will significantly reduce your chance of cancer, heart disease, stroke, emphysema and other lung disease. You will also be less likely to have cataracts on your eyes, brittle bones, wrinkles, yellow teeth and bad breath.
Being a non smoker will reduce your chance of impotence, difficulty falling pregnant, and premature births, small babies and miscarriage.
If you are a parent, quitting smoking means you will lower your children's risk of SIDS, ear infections, allergies, asthma, bronchitis and other lung problems, and reduce the chance they will take up smoking later in life.
Remember, it's never too late to be a non smoker. The sooner you quit, the better.
For more information see source: http://www.livelifewell.nsw.gov.au/
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