Quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of death in smokers, and the longer the cessation lasts, the lower the risk of death.
A cohort of British male smoking doctors led by Sir Richard Doll at Oxford University found that quitting at ages 30, 40, 50 and 60 gained 3, 6, 9 or 10 years of life respectively, and that if you quit before age 30 you could avoid more than 90% of the risk of developing the disease.
The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study (ACS CPS-I) of 1 million Americans found that smokers who smoked less than 20 cigarettes a day had the same risk of death as never smokers after 10 years of quitting.
When a smoker starts to quit, the body changes accordingly as the time to quit increases.
After 2 hours of quitting, nicotine is removed from the body.
After 6 hours of quitting, the heart rate slows down and blood pressure changes slightly.
24 hours after quitting, carbon monoxide is eliminated from the body.
48 hours after quitting, the cilia in the airways begin to recover, clearing mucus from the airways and making the lungs cleaner.
Three months after quitting smoking, lung function improves and you do not feel short of breath. Reproductive health and fertility improve.
Shortness of breath and cough symptoms reduced after 6 months of quitting.
A 50% reduction in heart rate for myocardial infarction after 1 year of quitting.
50% reduction in risk of lung cancer after 10 years of quitting.
After 15 years of quitting, the risk of death drops to the same as that of a non-smoker.