Recently I read several articles about health and most of them features smoking as one of the causes of unhealthy bodies and I think everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, emphysema, heart disease; it can shorten your life by 10 years or more and what all the smokers been ignoring is the fact that this is also an expensive addition.
Thinking back that I have given promises many times to my wife that I will stop smoking but still I haven’t. Now, recently I felt a strong urge to put a stop to my unhealthy addiction to cigarette, I found out and finally realised this addiction could be lethal even – decided to learn more about it and was shocked! On one of the articles that I’ve been reading explained one can’t suddenly stop smoking but need to slowly reduce the amount of cigarette they took. So, with this advice I begun to slowly reduce mine to 2 stick per day instead of the usual 4-6 sticks.
So, from my reading, I’m intrigue to see the effects of which within the first 20 minutes of quitting, the healing process begins. The benefits will continue to improve my health and quality of life for years. Below are the effects which I’m about to share with the rest of you.
20 MINUTES
- Blood pressure drops to normal.
- Pulse rate drops to normal.
- Body temperature of hands and feet increases to normal.
8 HOURS
- Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal.
- Oxygen level in blood increases to normal.
24 HOURS
- Chance of heart attack decreases.
48 HOURS
- Nerve endings start regrowing.
- Ability to smell and taste is enhanced.
2 WEEKS TO 3 MONTHS
- Circulation improves.
- Walking becomes easier.
- Lung function increases up to 30%.
1 TO 9 MONTHS
- Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease.
- Cilia regrow in lungs, increasing ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce infection.
- Body’s overall energy increases.
1 YEAR
- Excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker.
5 YEARS
- Lung cancer death rate for average smoker (one pack a day) decreases by almost half.
- Stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5-15 years after quitting.
- Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat and esophagus is half that of a smoker’s.
10 YEARS
- Lung cancer death rate similar to that of nonsmokers.
- Precancerous cells are replaced.
- Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases.
15 YEARS ONWARDS
- Risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker.
So far, I haven’t experienced any major side effects other than feeling sleepy and sometimes the urge to smoke more than 1 stick. So, good luck for me. I’m really hoping to get rid of this nasty habit and Insyallah lead to a more healthy life. To all my friends and family who has been supporting me, I thank you all.
Happy Ramadhan to all!
@macha I agree with you. the government should subsidize the cost of smoking withdrawal aids but first you yourself must be serious in quitting or that effort will goes for nothing, not even when Nicorette cost a mere 1 cent.
Anyway, we got education campaign, the ever increased taxes, the awful pictures stamped on the cigarette packs and so on but smokers are still smoking. Do you think Malaysia should implement rules like the one in Singapore and Australia?
– Ban the cigarette from being brought into from outside. – Currently you can see all kinds of brands being sold in Malaysia for as low as RM5 per pack!
– Have only designated smoking area in the whole country and places. – KLIA seems to only realize this & penalized those who doesn’t adhere to the rules by a lot!
Very informative. There is all an endless ongoing “education campaign” by the government and health authorities about the dangers of continued smoking and the benefits of giving it up. Governments keep increasing taxes on cigarettes and tobaco all the time and benefits from the the ever increasing revenues from this taxes. Now I ask….. if the government is so very serious about eradicating this scourge from the population, why not help smokers to kick the habit? Why not subsidise the cost of smoking withdrawal aids like “Nicorette”?