Smoking cessation timeline – the health benefits over time
- In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate decrease, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase.
- Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the blood’s ability to carry oxygen. At 8 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood decreases to normal. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, your blood oxygen level increases to normal.
- At 24 hours, your risk of having a heart attack decreases.
- At 48 hours, nerve endings start to regrow and the ability to smell and taste is enhanced.
- Between 2 weeks and 3 months, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier and you don’t cough or wheeze as often. Phlegm production decreases. Within several months, you have significant improvement in lung function.
- In 1 to 9 months, coughs, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease as you continue to see significant improvement in lung function. Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs, regain normal function.
- In 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is reduced to half that of a smoker.
- Between 5 and 15 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
- In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer drops. Additionally, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease. Even after a decade of not smoking however, your risk of lung cancer remains higher than in people who have never smoked. Your risk of ulcer also decreases.
- In 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is similar to that of people who have never smoked. The risk of death returns to nearly the level of a non-smoker.
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