What Happens to Your Body When You Quit Smoking
20 Minutes: Pulse and Blood Pressure
12 Hours: Carbon Monoxide
24 Hours: Heart Attack Risk
48 Hours: Sense of Smell and Taste
72 Hours: Bronchial Tubes
2 to 12 Weeks: Blood Circulation
1 to 9 months: Lung Function
1 year: Heart Health
2 to 5 Years: Cancer
5 Years: Stroke
10 Years: Lung Cancer
15 Years: Heart Disease
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SOURCES:
American Cancer Society: “Benefits of Quitting Smoking Over Time.”
American Diabetes Association: “Foot Complications.”
American Heart Association: “Tachycardia: Fast Heart Rate,” “Why High Blood Pressure is a ‘Silent Killer," "Health Threats from High Blood Pressure."
American Medical Association Journal of Ethics: “Health Effects of Smoking and the Benefits of Quitting.”
British Lung Foundation: “When will I feel better if I stop smoking?”
CDC: "Carbon Monoxide Poisoning: Frequently Asked Questions."
Cleveland Clinic: “Smoking.”
Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment: “Carbon monoxide (CO).”
Harvard Health Publishing: “How’s your heart rate and why it matters?”
Mayo Clinic: “Bronchitis.”
National Capital Poison Center: “Another Reason Not To Smoke: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning.”
British National Health Service: “How smoking affects your body,” “What happens when you quit?”
Medscape: “Impact of Tobacco Smoking and Smoking Cessation on Cardiovascular Risk and Disease.”
National Institutes of Health: "Benefits of Quitting."
Nemours Foundation: “Definition: Bronchial Tubes.”
Respiratory Health Association: “Health Benefits of Quitting.”
Tobacco Induced Diseases: “Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation.”
The Laryngoscope: “Smoking and olfactory dysfunction: A systematic literature review and meta‐analysis.”
UnityPoint Health: “Holy Smoke! 15 Surprising Benefits of Quitting Smoking.”
University of Rochester Medical Center: “Carbon Monoxide (Blood).”
World Health Organization: "Fact sheet about health benefits of smoking cessation."