When burned, cigarettes create more than 7,000 damaging chemicals, many of which are proven to cause cancer and other serious illnesses.
The health benefits of quitting start immediately and continue for a long time if you don’t start smoking again. Smoking is also very expensive, so the sooner you stop, the more you save.
Cutting out harmful chemicals
Cigarette smoke mainly consists of tar, carbon monoxide and the addictive substance nicotine.
Tar: A toxic mix of chemicals that can cause cancer, lung disease, heart disease and other harmful conditions.
Carbon monoxide: This is the poisonous gas you inhale when you smoke. It’s linked to heart disease and adverse effects in pregnancy.
Nicotine: The highly addictive component of cigarette smoke. Nicotine causes addiction similar to drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
Other poisonous chemicals in cigarette smoke include:
- ammonia
- arsenic
- benzene
- formaldehyde
- hydrogen cyanide
Health benefits over time
- After 20 minutes: Your heart rate drops
- 8 hours: Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in your blood reduce by half
- 1 day: Carbon monoxide and nicotine are cleared from your body
- 2 days: Your ability to taste and smell is improved
- 2-12 weeks: Circulation improves and your lung function increases
- 1 year: Your risk of having a heart attack falls to half that of a smoker
- 5 years : Stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker, in most cases
- 10 years: Your risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a smoker
- 15 years: Your risk of having a heart attack falls to that of a non-smoker
Reducing the risk of organ damage
Smoking harms nearly every organ in your body, causing many different illnesses and diseases. Some of these are life-threatening diseases such as cancer, lung disease, heart disease and stroke.
Half of all long-term smokers will die prematurely as a result of smoking. Half of these will be in middle age.
Improvement in physical appearance
Smoking also damages your looks, but stopping smoking can have a real positive effect on your appearance.
- Smoking dries your skin, leading to premature wrinkles. Stopping smoking can make you look younger.
- Squinting when smoke gets in your eyes and puckering your mouth when inhaling causes wrinkles around the eyes and mouth. Stopping smoking will prevent these wrinkles appearing early.
- People who smoke often have a grey, wasted appearance. Stopping smoking can bring back a healthy skin tone.
- Smokers are two or three times more likely than non-smokers to develop psoriasis, a chronic skin condition. Stopping smoking will help your skin recover its natural texture.
- Smoking damages blood vessels in the eyes, creating a bloodshot appearance. Stopping smoking will help your eyes recover.
- Smokers have stained teeth and gums and bad breath, no matter how much they brush, floss and visit their dentist. Stopping smoking will significantly improve your breath and prevent any further damage to your teeth.
- Smoking discolours fingers and fingernails.