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Stop smoking - what happens to your body when you quit cigarettes? Timeline revealed

SMOKING increases the risk of developing heart disease, stroke and lung cancer. You can stop smoking by cutting back on cigarettes. This is a timeline of what happens to the body after you quit smoking.

By MATT ATHERTON
Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
About 80,000 people die a year because of their smoking habit in the UK.
Giving up smoking could give you more energy, reduces stress, and lets you breathe more easily, the NHS added.
“After 20 minutes, pulse rate returns to normal,” said the NHS. “After eight hours, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in blood reduce by more than half, and oxygen levels return to normal.
Carbon monoxide is a chemical that’s found in cigarettes.
It overshadows oxygen in the blood, which stops it being efficiently delivered to the muscles around the body.
But, on the other hand, after eight hours, the first signs of withdrawal creep in.
They’re normal, and only last five to 10 minutes.
After 12 hours, the total amount of carbon monoxide in the body has returned to normal.
The heart doesn’t have to pump so hard to push oxygen around the body.
Within two full days, the lungs have removed all of the mucus leftover from cigarettes.
But, this is when the toughest withdrawal symptoms show up.
Patients may feel anxious, hungry, tired or dizzy.
Three days into quitting, and it’s significantly easier to breathe, and patients have more energy.
Over the next three months, circulation throughout the body improves and becomes more efficient.
The lungs become stronger and clearer, and the risk of heart attack has been slashed.
The most difficult withdrawal symptoms will pass by the end of the three months.
After one full year, the risk of heart disease is about half compared with a person that’s still smoking.
Ten years later, the chances of developing lung cancer are about half that of a smoker.
Another five years on, heart attack risk is the same as someone that’s never smoked a single cigarette.
Speak to a GP for more information on how to quit smoking.
Alternatively, call the NHS Smokefree helpline in 0300 123 1044.

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