There are lots of reasons to quit smoking – for health, money and family
Health
Smoking shortens your life by around 10 years. Stopping is one of the best things you will ever do for your health. Quitting reduces your chances of cancer, heart disease and stroke, COPD and dementia.
Your body starts to recover from the day you stop. Your lungs start to repair and you will be able to breathe easier within weeks.
The benefits of giving up smoking
When you quit smoking, your health and well-being will improve. This can start within a matter of hours and continue for the long-term.
Here are some of the physical benefits that can happen once you quit smoking:
Within days of giving up
The first few days of stopping smoking are often the hardest. This is because you start to experience nicotine withdrawal. It also disrupts your daily habits. However, it’s good to remember that the benefits of quitting start from the very first day that you give up.
- Just 20 minutes after your last cigarette, your heart rate and blood pressure will start to reduce. Check your pulse rate, it will already be starting to return to normal.
- Within eight hours, the amount of oxygen in your blood returns to normal. Your oxygen levels are recovering, and the harmful carbon monoxide level in your blood will have reduced by half.
- Around 12 hours after quitting, the amount of carbon monoxide in your blood drops to normal.
Within weeks of giving up
After you’ve stopped smoking for a few weeks, you’ll start to see even more benefits.
- As early as two weeks after you stop, your blood circulation and energy levels will start to improve.
- After a month, you might notice that your skin looks better and any facial wrinkles might be reduced.