Benefits of Quitting Smoking

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

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It’s never too late to quit smoking, and the Benefits of Quitting Smoking are endless. The sooner we quit the more we can reduce our chances of getting lung cancer and other diseases. It is found that every time we light a cigarette, over 7000 chemicals are released. Many of these chemicals are toxic and at least 69 of them are directly associated with cancer, it is no wonder that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. Smoking causes about 6 million deaths worldwide each year. In recent studies, it is found that the current trend shows that tobacco use will be responsible for more than 8million deaths annually by 2030. There are almost 1.4 Billion people actively smoking and the numerical figure is increasing day by day.

Dangerous and highly damaging Components of Tobacco smoke

 

  • Tar

    It is a solid particle in tobacco smoke, they are mainly carcinogenic. The Tar found in the tobacco smoke is sticky and brown in nature and stains the lung tissue, teeth, and fingernails.

  • Metals

    The smoke produced from a burning cigarette contains several metals like arsenic, cadmium, beryllium, chromium, cobalt lead, and nickel that are known to be cancerous.

  • Carbon Monoxide

    Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas, it is colorless odourless, in large doses it causes instant death because it takes the place of oxygen in the blood. Carbon Monoxide in the blood due to smoking makes it harder for oxygen to get to their organs.

  • Oxidizing Chemical

    The smoke from cigarettes produces many chemicals, most are highly reactive chemicals that can damage the heart muscle and blood vessel. It can also hinder the process of blood circulation. They also react with cholesterol which leads to heart disease and stroke.

  • Radioactive Compound

    Tobacco smoke contains a radioactive compound that is known to be carcinogenic.

 

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

 

Effects of smoking on the body

Tobacco is dangerous to your health. Even cigars, pipes, and hookah won’t help you to avoid health risks related to tobacco. There is no safe substance in any of the tobacco, each and every substance including, acetone,  tar,  nicotine, and carbon monoxide is harmful to our health. It not just only affect our lungs but it affects our entire body.

Respiratory System

  • Reduce lung function and breathlessness due to swelling and narrowing lung airways dues to the formation of extra mucus.
  •  Irritation of the trachea ( windpipe ) and Lyrinx (Voice Box)
  • Increase of cough and lung infection.
  • Permanent damage to air sacs of the lungs
  • A build-up of poisonous substances like tar, which results in lung damage.

Circulatory System

  • Increase in blood pressure and Heart rate
  • Constriction of the blood vessel, which hinders the normal flow of blood.
  • Less Oxygen is carried by the blood due to the infusion of carbon monoxide.
  • Increase the risk of heart attack and stroke due to blockage of blood supply
  • Damages the lining of the artery

 

Immune System 

  • Lowers the Vitamin C level in the blood
  • Weakens the Immune system making us susceptible to infection such as pneumonia
  • Increases the chances of worsening autoimmune disease.

 

Musculoskeletal system

  • Reduces calcium absorption, therefore, reducing bone density
  • Tightening of certain muscles

 

Sexuality and Reproductive System

  • Lower sperm count
  • Genetic damage of sperm cell
  • Reduce fertility, menstrual cycle
  • A decrease in sexual desire
  • Lowering sex hormone levels both in men and women

 

Integumentary system (skin hair and nails)

  • The heat from the cigarette directly burn the skin of the lip
  • It changes the elastic fiber of the Skin (elastosis)
  • Reduces blood supply to the skin
  • Reduces Vitamin A levels
  • Reduces the moisture of the skin
  • Cigarette smoke damages collagen and elastin. This damage speed up the skin ageing making smoker more prone to wrinkles on their face and body

Other effects of smoking on the body:

  • Reduce the ability to taste and smell
  • Increases the risk of developing an ulcer
  • Irritation and inflammation of the intestine and stomach.

 

Benefits of Quitting Smoking 

It’s never too late to quit smoking. Apart from the fact it’s bad for your health, there are many other reasons to quit smoking. It’s expensive, it makes your hair and clothes stink, and in many places in the world, it’s considered unsociable. But even you’ve smoked for many years, from the first hour you stop smoking, you can still reverse the harmful effects and experience health benefits.
Benefits of Quitting Smoking

20 Minutes after your Last Cigarette

Twenty minutes after your last cigarette your blood pressure and pulse will return to their normal level. Blood Circulation will start to improve and our hands and feet will warm to their usual temperature. Fibers in the bronchial tubes will start to move again.

2 Hours After Quitting Smoking

Two hours after quitting the nicotine cravings begins, you tend to feel tenser, drowsy even a mood swing is common at this phase even difficulty sleeping because nicotine releases more dopamine than normal. These are expected as there is depletion in the nicotine level in the body.
 

8 Hours After Quitting Smoking

The inhaled carbon monoxide clears, allowing the oxygen levels in the bloodstream to return to normal. Carbon monoxide competes to bind to hemoglobin in your blood which stretches the circulatory system so as it clears there is more room for oxygen. However, for long-term smokers, this carbon monoxide exposure causes red blood cells to increase in size making the blood thicker and causing higher blood pressure, and increase the chances of developing a blood clot.

24 Hours After Quitting Smoking

Coughing will actually increase, which is our body’s way of clear toxins from the lungs. By the one-day mark, you have decreased your risk of developing various coronary artery diseases and heart attacks. The nicotine level in the bloodstream will also decrease.

48 Hours After Quitting Smoking

Smoking damages the nerve ending which decreases our ability to smell and taste properly and after 48-hour senses will get sharper as the nerve ending begins to heal. The body will also enter a detoxification phase where our lung kicking out excess mucus left from cigarettes. This is when the toughest withdrawal symptoms show up. A heavy smoker feels dizzy anxious or tired, and also crave more food than usual.

3 Days After Quitting Smoking

Just three days after quitting the nicotine level drops to zero. At the three-day mark, many people will become moody and irritable and might experience a severe headache due to withdrawal symptoms. At this phase, your body is continuously trying to readjust itself.

3 Months After Quitting Smoking

After a couple of weeks, cravings will subside, and the chances of going back to the habit are far less likely. Lungs become stronger and clearer. Blood flow improves, exercising and breathing becomes easier. The risk of getting a heart attack goes down

9 Months After Quitting Smoking

The damage Celia and the Lungs are almost fully repaired which is a hair-like structure that helps sweep away dust and debris as a result symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breathing are almost completely eliminated.

1 Year After Quitting Smoking

The risk of heart disease has decreased by half

5 Years After Quitting Smoking

The body has healed its self so that the arteries and blood vessel begins to widen again, which means blood less likely to clot,  which lowers the risk of stroke, to the same level as a nonsmoker, you are half as likely to get cancer

10 Years After Quitting Smoking

After 10 years a person’s chances  of developing lung cancer and dying from it are about half compared to a smoker

15 Years After Quitting Smoking

The chances of getting heart disease are the same as the nonsmoker.

Takeaway

  Quitting smoking is difficult, but with strong determination, you can overcome this bad habit. There are both short-term and long-term benefits of quitting smoking. Since  smoking affects, our entire body, finding a way to quit is the most important step you can take to live a longer and happier life
Quitting smoking

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