It can also lead to an earlier death. While these risks are a good incentive to quit, quitting can be hard for some people because of withdrawal symptoms. These can include irritability, headaches, and intense nicotine cravings. Even though quitting can be a challenge, the benefits on your physical and mental health are worth it. Within one month of quitting, the many nicotine receptors in your brain will return to normal, breaking the cycle of addiction.
Your blood circulation improves within 2 to 12 weeks of stopping smoking. This makes physical activity a lot easier and lowers your risk of a heart attack. Smoking damages nerve endings in your nose and mouth, dulling your senses of taste and smell.
Within just 48 hours of quitting, the nerve endings begin to grow, and your sense of taste and smell begin to improve. Along with improved breathing and physical activity, the increased oxygen in your body will also give you more energy.
Smoking yellows your teeth, causes bad breath , and increases your risk of oral infections. Smoking can harm your sex life. It increases the risk of erectile dysfunction in men and contributes to female sexual dysfunction by reducing genital lubrication and orgasm frequency. The side effects of quitting smoking can be extreme for some. This is because smoking affects every system in your body. When you quit, your body needs to adjust to not having nicotine. Smoking affects every system in your body.
Headaches , nausea , and other physical symptoms are common as the nicotine leaves your body. You may have a cough and a sore throat as your lungs begin to clear out the mucus and other debris smoking creates. The boost in energy you experience when you quit smoking increases your appetite. Both lead to weight gain.
It will crave it when it goes without. Cravings peak between the two- and four-week mark. While it is healthier to have no nicotine in the body, this initial depletion can cause nicotine withdrawal. Around 3 days after quitting, most people will experience moodiness and irritability, severe headaches , and cravings as the body readjusts. As the lungs heal and lung capacity improves, former smokers may notice less coughing and shortness of breath. Athletic endurance increases and former smokers may notice a renewed ability for cardiovascular activities, such as running and jumping.
Nine months after quitting, the lungs have significantly healed themselves. The delicate, hair-like structures inside the lungs known as cilia have recovered from the toll cigarette smoke took on them. These structures help push mucus out of the lungs and help fight infections.
Around this time, many former smokers notice a decrease in the frequency of lung infections because the healed cilia can do their job more easily. This risk will continue to drop past the 1-year mark. Cigarettes contain many known toxins that cause the arteries and blood vessels to narrow.
These same toxins also increase the likelihood of developing blood clots. After 5 years without smoking, the body has healed itself enough for the arteries and blood vessels to begin to widen again. This widening means the blood is less likely to clot, lowering the risk of stroke.
The risk of stroke will continue to reduce over the next 10 years as the body heals more and more. The likelihood of developing mouth, throat, or pancreatic cancer has significantly reduced. After 15 years of having quit smoking, the likelihood of developing coronary heart disease is the equivalent of a non-smoker. Similarly, the risk of developing pancreatic cancer has reduced to the same level as a non-smoker.
After 20 years, the risk of death from smoking-related causes, including both lung disease and cancer, drops to the level of a person who has never smoked in their life. Also, the risk of developing pancreatic cancer has reduced to that of someone who has never smoked. Smoking is a harmful habit that can lead to severe health complications and death.
When a person quits smoking, the body will start to naturally heal and regain the vitality of a non-smoker over time. Some effects, such as lowered blood pressure, are seen almost immediately. Other effects, such as risks of developing lung cancer, heart disease, and lung disease, take years to drop down to the levels of a non-smoker. For more tips go to Craving a Cigarette Right Now?
In the first days and weeks when you quit smoking, the emotional ups and downs could feel like a rollercoaster ride. Making big changes in your life can naturally lead to heightened emotions. Weight gain is not always part of quitting smoking but it is common. You may find you feel hungrier than usual after you quit — this is a common withdrawal symptom and it will settle down with time. It can help to plan ahead and have plenty of healthy snacks in the kitchen, such as nuts and fruit, and to get rid of the junk food from your house.
If you do gain weight in the early days, try not to be too hard on yourself. Although withdrawal symptoms can feel challenging, there are ways you can help yourself stay motivated:. One of the biggest challenges many people face in the early days of quitting is the regular cravings. Some cravings are your body physically wanting nicotine, but some are also related to your daily routines.
Here are some ideas for activities to do instead of smoking at those times you usually reach for the cigarettes:. The more options you have to distract yourself, the better. Here are a few more ideas you can try at any time:. It will take time to settle into new routines and find new ways to deal with stress now that smoking is not an option. The stress-release you feel when you have a cigarette is only temporary. Research tells us that smokers tend to have higher stress levels than non-smokers.
Most people find that their stress levels are lower six months after quitting than they were before they quit. You might find it helpful to create a special space for yourself to relax.
Or you could try revisiting an old hobby or starting a new one. See How to deal with stress when you quit for ideas on great time-out activities. There is no point dwelling on the amount of money you have already spent on smoking. But you could still save money if you quit, and the sooner you quit, the more money you will save. Thinking about what else you would like to do with that money can be a great motivator to stick to your quit plan.
Try this cost calculator to see how much you can save by giving up smoking. Quitting is the best thing you will ever do for your health. It can affect your life in ways you may not even imagine. Remove yourself from the situation. Go for a walk, take a deep breath or have a drink of water, and ask yourself if you really want to be a smoker again.
Try not to waste your energy on self-blame. Instead, treat your slip-up as a sign to revise your quitting strategy. Next time you quit, spend some time thinking about what has worked for you in the past, and what challenges caused you to relapse. Then make plans for what you will do this time when those temptations come up again. If you could do with a hand, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about options to help you quit, or call Quitline for advice and support.
And willpower is not the only tool at your disposal — you can buy nicotine patches and quitting medications more cheaply with a script from your doctor. You might also like to try QuitCoach. QuitCoach is a program that asks you questions about your smoking and uses your answers to give you personalised advice. Each time you visit the site it asks you relevant questions for your situation and provides updated advice based on your answers.
QuitCoach can be especially useful in helping you decide what quitting aid — such as a nicotine replacement therapy product or medication — could be right for you. For more information see Quitting tips and Quitting methods. This page has been produced in consultation with and approved by:. Around 75 per cent of Melbourne's air pollution is caused by vehicle emissions. When asbestos fibres become airborne, people working with asbestos may inhale particles which remain in their lungs. Aspergillus is a fungus that commonly grows on rotting vegetation.
It can cause asthma symptoms. Asthma cannot be cured, but with good management people with asthma can lead normal, active lives.
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