Quitting Smoking — The Benefits

Why quit smoking?
You’ve been smoking for years, and now you’re ready to quit. And, while you know that breaking the habit will improve your health, there are some specific benefits of quitting smoking that you’ll want to know while you’re going through the process of quitting; these reasons will give you even more motivation, and will help you to achieve great health in less time than you think.

Quitting smoking — The benefits
One of the benefits of quitting smoking is that you will be significantly lowering your risk of contracting certain diseases. You will be less likely to develop lung cancer if you are a non-smoker, and your risk of heart attack, chronic lung disease, and stroke will be lowered as well. If you are a woman that is trying to quit smoking, you will be more likely to get pregnant if you stop smoking months before conception. And, if you are pregnant, if you stop smoking in the first trimester, it will lessen the chances of the baby being born with a low birth weight.

There are also some immediate benefits of quitting smoking; twenty minutes after you make the decision to stop, your blood pressure will drop, and your heart rate will decrease. Twelve hours after you quit (which will usually be the day after you quit), the carbon monoxide levels in your blood drops to a normal rate, which means your blood will be less toxic, and your energy may increase. Your lung function will increase and your overall circulation will improve after a few months, and a few weeks later, you may find that your shortness of breath or chronic coughing have decreased or been eliminate altogether. After you’ve been a non-smoker for a few years, the benefits of quitting smoking will increase. After five years, your risk of getting a stroke is the same as that of a non-smoker.

Now that you know some of the definite benefits of quitting smoking, you should be aware that being completely smoke-free will be a challenge–especially if you’ve been a smoker for a while. When you deprive the body of nicotine for extended periods of time, you may find that you are tired and don’t have as much energy as you need to complete the day’s tasks. Insomnia and other sleep disturbances may also be a part of nicotine withdrawal, and you may find that you need treatment for anxiety or depression as well. If these symptoms become chronic and you are not able to manage them through exercise and diet, you should talk to our doctor about coming up with a plan that will work best for you.