It's never too late
What happens after:
20 Minutes
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Your blood pressure returns to its usual level. Your pulse rate
slows to normal. Your circulation has improved enough that your
hands and feet warm to normal temperature.
4 Hours
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Half the carbon monoxide from your last cigarette has left your
bloodstream.
8 Hours
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The carbon monoxide from your last cigarette is now gone from your
bloodstream. Your blood now carries a normal amount of oxygen.
24 Hours
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Your chance of a heart attack is lower.
48 Hours
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Damaged nerve endings start to re-grow. Your sense of smell and
taste have improved.
2 Weeks to 3 Months
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Your circulation is better. Walking and physical activity is easier.
Lung function increases up to thirty percent.
1 to 9 Months
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You cough less. You have more energy. You don't become short of
breath as easily. The cilia re-grow in your lungs and you will have
less phlegm and infection.
1 Year
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Your heart attack risk has fallen to the halfway mark between that
of a current smoker and that of someone who has never smoked.
5 Years
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If you used to smoke a pack a day, you have now cut your risk of
dying of lung cancer in half. Your risk of heart attack and stroke
is approaching that of a nonsmoker. You have cut your risk of mouth,
throat and esophageal cancer by half.
10 Years
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Your chance of dying from lung cancer is almost as low as a
nonsmoker's. Your risk of mouth, throat, esophageal, kidney and
pancreatic cancer continues to fall.
10 to 15 Years
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Your risk of dying from any cause is almost the same as that of
someone who never smoked.