Smoking is a habit that destroys your life, it is a slow poison that people take willingly but not all who start smoking are aware all the ill effects that it can have on the health.
7000 different chemicals are released each time a cigarette is lit so it comes as no surprise that smoking is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in the world. The keyword here being preventable. The number of people who die due to smoking each year is around 4 million while 890000 people die due to second hand smoke. It is believed that one person die every 8 second from tobacco use and about 15 billion cigarettes are sold daily or 10 million every minute. If you stop and think of it these numbers are huge and just shows how much addictive cigarette smoking can be.
A survey found a deathly fact that 60% of Chinese adults did not know that smoking can cause lung cancer while 96% were unaware it can cause heart disease. Talk about being unaware and walking on a sword. It is also a fact that every cigarette smoked cuts at least five minutes of life on average that is about the time taken to smoke it and more than 4,000 toxic or carcinogenic chemicals have been found in tobacco smoke.
So with so many people smoking the cigarette everyday of their adult life what actually happens when they quit it??
Short Term Effects
- Within the first 20 minutes of quitting the heart rate returns to normal this is because while smoking certain chemicals are released that increase the heart rate and narrows the blood vessels.
- 2 hours passes and the Nicotine craving starts which can cause irregular mood swings, drowsiness, tension and difficulty in sleeping. This happens because Nicotine releases more Dopamine in the body than normal. So these are normal physiological responses the body goes through.
- 8 hours in and the inhaled Carbon Monoxide clears which allows Oxygen level in our bloodstream to return to normal. This is because Carbon Monoxide is highly reactive and binds with Haemoglobin in blood and stresses the circulatory system. But for long term smokers the Carbon Monoxide causes the size of red blood calls to increase and thus makes the blood thicker and causes higher blood pressure and also the chances of blood clotting increases.
- 24 hours into quitting the coughing will increase surprisingly but that is just the body clearing out all the toxins from the lungs. At this point the risk of developing the coronary artery diseases decrease.
- After 48 hours, Nicotine is completely removed from the body and the damaged nerve endings begin to regrow.
- At the 72 hour mark there are chances that you will have Nicotine withdrawal is at its peak with headache, nausea and cramps. Emotional symptoms like anxiety and depression may also be present. But good news!! This is the worst period in the quitting cycle and after this period the worst is over.
- One month in and the risk of developing diabetes type 2, cancer and cardiovascular disease has already decreased.
Long Term Effects
- In 3 to 9 months the damaged Cilia in the lungs are almost fully repaired which means that symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath are almost gone.
- In 1 year the risk of developing heart diseases as a direct consequence of smoking is halved.
- In 10 years the chance of developing lung cancer decreases to half of someone who did not quit smoking.
- In 15 years the risk of heart attack decreases to the same as someone who has never smoked.
But unfortunately there will always be some irreversible damage to the lungs and increased susceptibility to developing various lung diseases. But while quitting may be difficult the benefits greatly outweigh the initial withdrawal. So these were some of the benefits that happens inside the body but what about what happens on the exterior?
- Effects of smoking in the mouth are reversible so by quitting the teeth become whiter and thus your smile will be brighter. Also the lips start looking better.
- The skin starts glowing and the accelerated aging process due to smoking will slow down.
- In women, smoking actually affects the breasts too, so quitting will perk you up. Ain't that a reason to quit in itself :P
- Smokers lose more hair in the shower and on quitting the hairs will start looking better too.
Even if one person quits smoking after reading this then I would feel that I have made some positive effects in the world.
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