Quit Smoking and Your Health Will Be Improved in 20 Minutes

By Martin Elmer

Quit smoking today and your body will start healing tomorrow. Actually it will start within the next 20 minutes. It doesnt take longer before you can see the first signs of the healing process.

20 minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure decreases, your pulse rate drops, and your body temperature of your hands and feet increases. 8 hours later your carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal while oxygen level in blood increases to normal.

After 24 hours the risk of a heart attack has decreased. And after 48 hours the nerve endings start to growth again. The smell- and tasting ability will also be improved. 72 hours from now your breathing will be easier.

In the following weeks and months your circulation will improve. You will also fell that your lung function will increase and walking will be easier. After the first month the nicotine withdrawal symptom will subside, so you only have to think about the psychological need for a cigarette.

One year from now, the risk of coronary heart has decreased to half. And because smoking can directly be linked to 30 % of all heart disease deaths in the United States each year, this is very significant.

It is not only the short-term benefits, which makes it worth quitting. The risk of a stroke has been reduced to the same as people who have never smoked after only 5 years. And the risk of lung cancer drops to one-half that of the smokers after 10 years. The risk of other cancer types will also decrease; including the risk of cancer in the throat, esophagus, kidney, mouth, and pancreas.

The risk of coronary heart disease will be the same of people who have never smoked after 15 years. And in many other ways will the risk of death be at nearly the same level of people who have never smoked.

So if you stop smoking today, your will be rewarded with an improved health. But it is also important to remember that healing from nicotine addiction is an ongoing process. While some improvements happen quickly, others will come more gradually. - 30285

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