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Did you know that quitting reduces the overall risk of death (all causes combined)
by 50% within 15 years?
And the lifestyle benefits are simply endless: your respiratory system will
benefit, your quality of life will improve, there will be cardiovascular benefits,
and last but not least, there will be marked benefits to those around you.
No matter which way you look at it quitting smoking has a major and immediate
positive effect on your health. |
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Benefits to the Respiratory System
The risk of lung
cancer is decreased by 80-90% after 15+ years of abstinence. Within
three months of quitting, the smokers' cough disappears in most people.
Lung capacity declines with age more rapidly in smokers than in non-smokers.
Quitting smoking does little to restore lost lung function. However, after
quitting the decline in lung function tends to parallel that of non-smokers.
In other words, quitting helps the lungs age slower.
Quality of life and other benefits of quitting:
- Within 2 days, your sense of taste and smell will begin to return.
- Harm to others is alleviated from side stream smoke exposure.
- Increased work productivity.
- Fire prevention.
- Improved self
esteem.
- Cost savings: The expenditure for smoking 1 packet per day approximates
to
R50 000 over 10 years.
Cardiovascular Benefits
After a year the risk of a heart attack is reduced by 50%, due to reversal
of nicotine's effects on inducing platelet aggregation and vasospasm (nicotine
makes the blood clot and a blood clot in the heart's coronary arteries causes
a heart attack). Within 20 minutes of smoking your last cigarette, your heart
rate and blood pressure have returned to normal.
The risk of having a stroke or a brain aneurysm (bleeding in the brain) is considerably
reduced when you stop smoking. Nicotine is 10 times more potent than heroin in
its addictive properties. Average dose of nicotine delivered by smoking one cigarette
is about 0.5 mg. Fatal dose of nicotine is 60 mg and causes respiratory muscle
paralysis.
Benefits to those around you
Lung cancer, asthma, rhabdomyosarcomas, brain tumours, and heart disease are
more frequent in people who live with smokers or who work in a non smoke free
environment. By stopping you are decreasing the health risks of those around
you! |
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