Medical Health Encyclopedia

Smoking and smokeless tobacco

THE BENEFITS OF QUITTING

• Within 20 minutes of quitting - your blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal and the temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal.
• Within 8 hours of quitting - your carbon monoxide levels drop and your oxygen levels increase, both to normal levels.
• Within 24 hours of quitting - your risk of a sudden heart attack decreases.
• Within 48 hours of quitting - nerve endings begin to regenerate and your senses of smell and taste begin to return to normal.
• Within 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting - your circulation improves and walking becomes easier; even your lung function increases up to 30%.
• Within 1 to 9 months of quitting - your overall energy typically increases and symptoms like coughing, nasal congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath diminish; also, the small hairlike projections lining your lower airways begin to function normally. This increases your lungs' ability to handle mucus, clean the airways, and reduce infections.
• Within 1 year of quitting - your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone still using tobacco.
• Within 5 years of quitting - the lung cancer death rate decreases by nearly 50% compared to one pack/day smokers; the risk of cancer of the mouth is half that of a tobacco user.
• Within 10 years of quitting - your lung cancer death rate becomes similar to that of someone who never smoked; precancerous cells are replaced with normal cells; your risk of stroke is lowered, possibly to that of a nonuser; your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas all go down.

WHEN TO CONTACT A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL

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Call your doctor if you are a smoker and:

• You want an individual health risk profile
• You want to learn about methods to stop tobacco use
• You are pregnant, planning a pregnancy in the future, or using birth control pills
• You have symptoms of specific diseases associated with tobacco use (even if you are a nonsmoker exposed to secondhand smoke)