The Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking

The positive effects of quitting smoking begin very soon after you stop using tobacco and continue long after you've quit.
Short-term Benefits:
· Your blood pressure, pulse, and body temperature, which were abnormally elevated by nicotine, return to normal. (Note:People taking blood pressure medication should continue doing so until told otherwise by their physician.)
· Your body starts to heal itself. Carbon monoxide and oxygen levels in your blood return to normal.
· Your chance of having a heart attack goes down.
· Nerve endings start to regrow. Your ability to taste and smell improves.
· Your breathing passages (bronchial tubes) relax, your lung capacity goes up, and breathing becomes easier.
· Your circulation improves and your lungs become stronger, making it easier to walk.
· In your lungs, the cilia (hairlike structures on the lining) begin to regrow, increasing the ability of your lungs to handle mucus, to clean themselves, and to reduce infection. Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease. Your overall energy level increases.

Long-term Benefits:
As a former smoker, your chance of dying from lung cancer is less than it would be if you continued to smoke. Your chance of getting cancer of the throat, bladder, kidney, or pancreas also decreases.