What Are the
Benefits of Quitting Smoking
Quitting tobacco is
important for your health. For example, the tobacco
in cigarettes contains over 4,000 chemicals, more
than 100 of which are known toxins (poisons). But
it's never too late to stop the damage tobacco does
to your body. For example, look what happens when
you put out your last cigarette:
Within minutes, your blood pressure and heart rate
return to normal.
Within hours, the carbon monoxide level in your
blood will go down -- and the oxygen level will go
up.
Within days, your ability to smell and taste will
improve, and the yellow stains on your hands and
teeth will fade.
Within several weeks to months, you'll start to
breathe easier. Your smoker's cough will disappear,
and you'll find that you're more clear-headed and
energetic.
Within a year or two, your risk for heart disease,
stroke, emphysema, and lung cancer will drop by up
to 50%. Eventually, your risk for these diseases
will be the same as if you had never smoked.
You don't have to be vain to appreciate these
benefits of quitting:
fewer wrinkles
no more stained teeth and fingers
better breath
clothes and hair that no longer smell of tobacco
no need to leave gatherings or work to smoke outside
no more worrying that people are put off by the
smell in your home or car
Quit Smoking -- The
Benefits Are Huge For Older Adults
Shelley Emling - The Huffington Post
Good news for older people who smoke: If you quit
smoking, you will reap the benefits in a fairly
short period of time.
A new study by researchers at the German Cancer
Research Center of 8,807 people between 50 and 74
found that a person slashes their risk of heart
attack and stroke by more than 40 percent within the
first five years after the last cigarette.
"We were able to show that the risk of smokers for
cardiovascular diseases is more than twice that of
non-smokers," Professor Hermann Brenner said in a
press release. "However, former smokers are affected
at almost the same low rate as people of the same
age who never smoked.
"Moreover, smokers are affected at a significantly
younger age than individuals who have never smoked
or have stopped smoking," he added.
For example, a 60-year-old smoker has the same risk
of heart attack as a 79-year-old non-smoker and the
same risk of stroke as a 69-year-old non-smoker. The
number of cigarettes smoked and the duration of the
habit also have an impact on disease risk. The more
cigarettes a smoker consumes per day over a
prolonged period of time, the higher his or her risk
climbs.
According to researchers, the study's results
suggest that smoking cessation programs -- which
have been designed largely with younger people in
mind -- should be expanded to reach out to older
people as well.
The study looked at people who had never suffered a
heart attack or stroke, and then evaluated their
physical condition for up to 10 years afterwards. In
their evaluation, the scientists also considered the
effects of other factors such as age, gender,
alcohol consumption, education and physical exercise
as well as blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol
levels, body height and weight.
Another smoking-related report released by the
German Cancer Research Center last year suggested
that smoking was linked to increased mortality in
older people and that stopping smoking was linked
with reduced mortality at an older age.
For people in general, studies show there are all
sorts of benefits to stopping smoking including an
almost immediate drop in heart rate and blood
pressure. There are also other rewards such as
whiter teeth and better breath.
Five Surprising Benefits of Quitting
SmokingFrom your eyes to
your bladder, kicking this habit could help more
parts of your body than you might think.
By Julie Marks
Medically Reviewed by Sanjai Sinha, MD
You’ve probably heard that quitting smoking can
improve the health of your heart and lungs. While
these advantages are significant, research is
showing that retiring your lighter could offer
dramatic benefits to other organs in your body that
you might not have considered.
“Smoking really can affect pretty much every organ
in your body,” says Oliver “Rocky” Mollere, MD, a
primary care physician and pediatrician at Ochsner
Health Center in Marrero, Louisiana. “I tell my
patients, if I were to pick one thing to improve
your overall health, quitting smoking is the one
thing. It just affects everything.”
With tobacco use cited as the largest preventable
cause of death in the United States, it’s worth
examining some unexpected effects of quitting.
Among the lesser known benefits of
quitting are:
Clearer Sinuses:
In a study published in July 2017 in the journal
Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, researchers
found that a history of cigarette smoking was
associated with more severe chronic sinusitis, a
condition that causes nasal congestion, drainage,
pressure, and other issues. The good news? Quitting
smoking gradually improved symptoms over a period of
about 10 years.
“We were actually able to provide evidence, for the
first time, that if these patients stop smoking,
their chronic sinusitis starts to approach that of
nonsmokers,” says Ahmad R. Sedaghat, MD, PhD,
assistant professor of otolaryngology at Harvard
Medical School and sinus surgeon at Massachusetts
Eye and Ear in Boston, who was coauthor of the
study. “This is great news because now we have hard
data that we can give patients that says your health
is going to improve — your sinuses are going to get
better.”
Lower Risk of Eye Disease:
“Your eyes have really concentrated amounts of blood
vessels,” Dr. Mollere says. “If you damage the blood
flow going to that area by smoking, you will damage
the cells, and you can start to lose vision.”
Smoking doubles your risk of having age-related
macular degeneration. It also raises your chances of
developing other eye problems, including uveitis,
cataracts, and diabetic retinopathy. Research has
shown that after just one year of quitting smoking,
a person’s risk of macular degeneration is reduced
by 6.7 percent.
Lower Risk for Bladder Cancer:
You’ve most likely heard that smoking ups your risk
of lung cancer, but it’s also responsible for half
of all bladder cancer cases. “Who thinks about
bladder cancer and smoking?” says Dr. Sedaghat.
“It’s just not something most people have heard
about.” Doctors believe that when a person smokes,
harmful chemicals accumulate in the urine, which
damages the lining of the bladder — the organ that
stores urine — and can lead to cancer. Avoid all
forms of tobacco to reduce your risk and improve the
health of your bladder.
Fewer Wrinkles and Lower Odds of Developing Skin
Cancer and Psoriasis:
No one wants wrinkles, but picking up a cigarette
will give you them before
your time. “It can really lead to early aging. The
skin actually loses its elasticity due to cigarette
smoking,” Mollere says. “And it’s a cumulative
effect. The more you smoke, the worse your skin is
going to look.”
Smoking also increases your risk of serious skin
conditions, including skin cancer and psoriasis. In
fact, it about doubles a person’s chances of
developing psoriasis, according to the National
Psoriasis Foundation. In a study published in the
American Journal of Medicine, researchers found this
risk nearly disappears 20 years after someone stops
smoking.
Sexual function Smoking can alter how a man’s sexual
organ works. “It’s directly linked to erectile
dysfunction since it affects the blood vessels,”
says Mollere. “Many of my male patients are
surprised to hear this.” Sufficient blood flow to
the penis is needed to get a firm erection, but
chemicals from smoking can affect this process.
Research published in the American Journal of
Epidemiology showed men who quit smoking
significantly improved their erectile dysfunction
symptoms.
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Updated April 2019
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