What Happens When You Quit Smoking ?
Many people wonder – what happens when you quit smoking ? Did you know that over 25 percent of adults aged 18 or over smoke cigarettes in the U.S? Medical research has consistently demonstrated that smoking is a deadly and addictive habit. There are approximately 400 known chemicals in tobacco smoke of which more than 50 are proven carcinogens.
The World Health Organisation states that someone dies from the use of tobacco somewhere in the world every 6 seconds. An even grimmer looking statistic is that tobacco kills half of the people who use it on a regular basis-that means that 1 in every 2 people who regularly smoke will die from the habit.
What Happens When You Quit Smoking ?
And it does not end there. It is estimated that a further 200,000 people die each year from passive smoke at work (i.e. second hand smoke). The United States Protection Agency estimates that this passive smoking is responsible for over 3,000 lung cancer deaths every year among non smokers.
There has been new research which also links second hand smoke to psychological problems in children such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). With these damning statistics, when is the best time to quit smoking? It is clear that the correct answer is not just yes, but immediately. And what’s more, if you do quit smoking, you will begin to reap the benefits in as little as twenty minutes.
That’s right-within 20 minutes of quitting smoking, both your pulse rate and blood pressure will go down whilst your body temperature in both your hands and feet will rise. Because carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the ability of your blood to carry oxygen, after 8 hours the level of carbon monoxide in your bloodstream will reduce to normal which will in turn increase your blood oxygen levels bringing it back to normal.
After about 24 hours, you will have significantly reduced your chances of having a heart attack and around 24 hours later, your nerve endings that were dying from your smoking will begin to grow again giving you a much greater sense of both smell and taste.
Over the next couple of months, you will find that your respiratory circulation continues to improve-you can walk further and further without experiencing shortness of breath. You will not cough and splutter as much as you did when you were still smoking. Within 3 months, your lungs will function significantly better than they did. This improvement will continue as the months go by and 9 months into quitting smoking, you should find that you cough much less, your energy levels have increased dramatically and you generally feel much better and healthier.
By 12 months, things are looking up. Your risk of heart attack and coronary heart disease has reduced to half that of someone who is still smoking. As you move onwards to between 5 and 15 years after quitting the cigarette, the risk of having a stroke returns to the same level as that of someone who has never smoked.
You have also by now significantly reduced the risk of cancer in certain areas that are high risk for smokers such as your lungs, mouth, throat, oesophagus, kidney, bladder and pancreas. However, at 10 years, you are still at a marginally higher risk of lung cancer than someone who has never smoked. It is only at the end of 15 years of quitting smoking that your risk of death is at about the same level as that of a non-smoker.
But even with all these facts on the cons of smoking and the pros of quitting, why is it so hard to quit? The answer is Nicotine. Nicotine is an alkaloid compound (containing nitrogen) which can be found in several different species of plants, mainly tobacco, but also found in lower quantities in some vegetables such as tomatoes, aubergines (eggplant), peppers and potatoes. Nicotine is in itself not carcinogenic although it is a factor in UV-induced cell death activation (a process known as apoptosis) which interferes with the body’s ability to get rid of potentially cancerous cells. Nicotine activates nerve receptors that release a signal into the brain and it is this property that makes it addictive. It interferes with blood pressure, heart rate, respiration and the levels of glucose in the blood.
When you try to stop smoking or even reduce the number of cigarettes that you smoke, you will crave nicotine. If you smoke on a regular basis, you will have nicotine or by- products of it in your system for several days after quitting. You will experience withdrawal symptoms within hours, peaking between 24 to 48 hours after you quit.
The symptoms will usually include the craving for tobacco, the desire to eat sweets and you will cough more than usual. You will also find that your mood swings – you may become irritable and find that your level of concentration has worsened, impairing performance of any task that requires concentration and patience. These symptoms will last for about a month on average but the hunger pangs and cravings could go on for several months due to the sudden drop in the blood’s glucose levels. But you must stick it out if you are to realize the results-your life depends on it.
We hope that gives you some vital information on what happens when you quit smoking. The rest is up to you. Be sure to see your doctor if you have any questions.