Source: GM News.com Health
All heavy smokers experience negative health effects…such as cancer, heart attacks and premature death. Scientists say there are more than 4,000 compounds in cigarette smoke. A sizeable number of them are toxic and carcinogenic.
The more a person smokes, the more likely that person will develop COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). In the United States, COPD is one of the most common lung diseases, the fourth leading cause of death, and among the top three leading causes of disability.
After a diagnosis of COPD, it’s important to stop smoking, protect yourself from lung irritants at work, get annual flu vaccines, and talk to your doctor about the pneumococcal vaccine to prevent pneumonia.
What are the health benefits of smoking cessation? Here’s the information about how long you will begin to see the benefits after you quit smoking:
• After eight hours: the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops and the oxygen level rises to normal.
• After 24 hours: your chance of a heart attack decreases.
• After 48 hours: your ability to taste and smell improves.
• After 72 hours: the bronchial tubes relax and breathing is easier for you.
• After two weeks to three months: your circulation improves, and your lung capacity increases up to 30 percent.
• After one to nine months: cilia (tiny hairs) that sweep debris from your lungs regrow to increase your lungs’ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs and reduce infection; coughing, sinus congestion and shortness of breath also decrease.
• After one year: your excess risk of coronary disease is half that of a person who smokes.
• After two years: your heart attack risk drops to near normal.
• After five years: lung cancer death rate decreases by almost half, your risk of having a stroke reduces, and your risk of developing mouth, larynx, throat, esophageal, bladder or other cancers is cut in half that of a smoker.
• After 10 years: your risk of dying from lung cancer drops to almost the same rate as that of a lifelong nonsmoker.
• After 15 years: your risk of coronary heart disease is the same as a person who has never smoked.
By BinYang, M.D., M.S., M.P.H.
UniMed Center
190 Route 18, Suite 202
East Brunswick NJ 08816
732-828-9988 – http://unimedcenter.com