Quitting smoking can be a daunting task, one which becomes even harder when it feels like the damage has already been done, so to speak. While it’s true that the amount a person has smoked in their life has lasting impacts on health even after quitting, it’s important to highlight how many health benefits accrue almost from the moment one quits smoking. No matter how much you’ve smoked in your lifetime, or for how long, you can still see major improvements in your health–and your cancer risk–when you quit.
The benefits to quitting begin almost immediately:
- Within 20 minutes your blood pressure and heart rate–both elevated by smoking–are approaching normal.[1] High blood pressure has been consistently linked to the development of kidney cancer, and may be linked to colorectal, breast, uterine, liver, and esophageal cancers.[2]
- Within 48 hours concentrations of carbon monoxide in your blood have dropped to the levels of a non-smoker.[3]
- Within days your sense of smell and taste will begin to improve.[1]
- Within 2 weeks inflammation markers in the body rapidly and significantly decrease.[4] This decrease will slow, but continue over time; within 5 years, levels of inflammatory markers will match those of a non-smoker.[5]
- Within several weeks circulation and lung function begin to improve. Shortness of breath will also decrease within this time frame, and heart attack risk will begin to decline.[1]
- Within 1 year your risk of heart attack drops by half.[3]
- Within 2-5 years the increased risk of mouth, esophageal, throat, and bladder cancers is cut in half. Your stroke risk matches that of a non-smoker.[1]
- Within 10 years your lung cancer risk is half that of a smoker’s. Laryngeal, pancreatic, and kidney cancer all decrease.[6]
- Within 15 years your heart disease risk matches that of a non-smoker’s.[6]
According to the American Cancer Society, quitting before the age of 40 can reduce one’s risk of smoking-related illnesses and cancers by over 90%. It can also reduce the risk of illnesses–such as chronic bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)--which are considered independent risk factors for lung cancer.[1] Additionally, one’s outlook after having been diagnosed with many forms of cancer improves radically as a non-smoker.
Lung tissue heals over time, as do tissues and organs impacted by the chronic inflammation caused by smoking. While some of the above benefits may take years to fully realize, the incremental improvement across multiple major measures of health–such as cancer risk, cardiovascular health, and systemic inflammation–begins immediately and continues from that point forward.
It’s also important to note that any decrease in smoking helps your health; studies have shown that several health indicators, including overall inflammation levels and several heart-health markers, improved with a reduction in smoking.[7] Even if quitting seems impossible, working towards it, step by step, will reap health benefits along the way.
Quitting smoking isn’t easy, but there are many ways you can set yourself up for success. If you find your resolve flagging, remember everything you’ll gain by losing the habit.
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