Aren’t you sick and tired of hearing all the negativity about how cigarettes are harmful for you? Let’s try a different approach – what can quitting smoking do for you? Yesterday we discussed the benefits of quitting smoking in the short term. If that wasn’t enough to convince you to stop smoking, here are some long term benefits of quitting smoking that will definitely help convince you to stay away from nicotine and cigarettes.
3-9 Months
One of the most annoying side effects of being a smoker is the constant coughing and wheezing. I you did not enjoy constantly having to cough up a lung every few minutes, at having to pant, wheeze and gasp just to be able to breathe, then here’s some good news. If you’ve stuck with the program this far, these respiratory problems will start to go away and you’ll find that your lung capacity will start to improve as well.
1 Year
Cigarette smoking is often linked in scientific studies with coronary heart disease, a condition that can result in heart attacks. In fact, 40% of those who die from smoking ultimately pass away because of a heart attack or heart disease. Fortunately if you’ve made it this far, you’ll be about 50% less likely to die from a heart attack or heart disease. If you think that’s great then keep reading, because it gets even better.
5 Years
Smoking increases your chances of getting a stroke by because it causes a condition called atherosclerosis. Simply put, smoking makes your arteries clog up and increases chances of blood clots. And what’s a stroke? That’s when your brain starts to go haywire because it isn’t getting enough blood. See the connection now? But if you’ve already quit smoking for 5 years, your risk of getting a stroke can be reduced by as much as 50%.
10 Years
The one condition you’ll most often think about when asked about the negative effects of smoking is lung cancer. With all the dangerous stuff contained in cigarettes, it’s no wonder that smoking damages your lungs. When you quit smoking your body naturally starts coughing up the nasty stuff and cleaning up your lungs, but cigarettes are still extremely toxic. By the end of 10 years after quitting though, you should have about as much risk of getting lung cancer as a person who doesn’t smoke.
15 Years
There are six main factors identified as causes for heart attacks. Sure you have the usual suspects like high cholesterol, obesity, and high blood pressure, but another significant cause of heart attacks is none other than smoking. Just as blood clots can prevent your brain from functioning properly (causing a stroke), blood clots in arteries that lead to your heart can also lead to heart attacks. Not a comfortable way to go, but like I said it only takes 1 year to reduce your risks by half, and if you’ve already quit for 15 years then you’ll have reduced your risk to that of any other non-smoker.
Smoking can be devastatingly harmful to your body, but it’s never too late to quit, and if you stick with it, your body can and will recover from it. That’s why you need to quit smoking today and stay ‘quit’, so that you’ll be able to live your life 5, 10, or even 15 years from now without having to worry about heart attacks, strokes, and rising medical insurance costs.
If you haven’t already, be sure to read yesterday’s post about What Happens When A Smoker Quits – Short Term Benefits, to find out what happens soon after you quit smoking.
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