What happens when you stop smoking?

This timeline shows when the benefits of stopping smoking will come through after your final cigarette.

20 minutes after giving up

Your blood pressure and your pulse rate return to normal.

What this means
Raised blood pressure and high pulse rate both put strain on your heart, increasing your risk of a heart attack. The minute you stop your risk is reduced.

8 hours after giving up

The carbon monoxide levels in your blood are halved.

What this means
Carbon monoxide from smoking can also produce distortions of time perception, psychomotor and visual impairment and negative effects on cognitive skill. Reducing the level of carbon monoxide in your blood will reduce these problems. Carbon monoxide reduces the uptake of oxygen from the lungs - the higher the levels of carbon monoxide, the lower the levels of oxygen.³ Oxygen is vital for the functioning of all energy systems in the body; so as soon as you cut carbon monoxide levels, you will experience enhanced energy levels.

24 hours after giving up

Carbon monoxide is eliminated from the body.

What this means
Look forward to better sports performance, with stronger endurance, lower levels of fatigue, improved recovery after exercise and a lower heart rate for each level of exercise.

48 hours after giving up

Nicotine is eliminated from the body.

What this means
As well as being highly addictive⁴, nicotine has a number of unpleasant side-effects on the body. It can act as an emetic (cause vomiting) and it can produce stomach upsets. It raises blood pressure, and increases the likelihood of hypothermia and seizures. Get rid of the nicotine and you will get rid of these symptoms.

2-21 weeks after giving up

Circulation improves.

What does this mean
Bad circulation causes numerous problems, ranging from persistently cold feet, slow skin healing, Raynaud's disease and ⁵ peripheral vascular disease (PVT) which can even lead to limb amputation. Giving up smoking will reduce your risk of most circulation problems.

After 1 year

Your risk of a heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

What this means
Each year, tobacco smoking accounts for around 26,000 deaths from coronary heart disease in the UK - approximately 17 percent of all heart disease deaths. The UK has one of the highest heart disease deaths in the world.⁶ Luckily, giving up will quickly start to reduce your risk.

After 10 years

Your risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker

What this means
In 1999, 22 percent of all cancer deaths were due to lung cancer, making it the most common form of cancer death. Over 80 percent of all lung cancer deaths are caused by smoking.⁷ Giving up is the most important thing you can do to reduce your risk.

After 15 years

Your risk of a heart attack is the same as someone who has never smoked.

What this means
A better chance of a long, healthy life!

References:

1. Godfrey, C et al. The smoking epidemic - a prescription for change. Health Education Authority, 1993.
2. The benefits of smoking timescale used in this report is based on 1990 The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation
   A Report of the Surgeon General Source: Office on Smoking and Health
   
3. Royal College of Physicians. Smoking or Health. London, Pitman, 1977.
4. Nicotine Addiction in Britain. A report of the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians, February 2000.
5. Cole, CW et al Cigarette smoking and peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Surgery 1993; 114: 753-757
6. The UK Smoking Epidemic: Deaths in 1995. Health Education Authority, 1998
7. CRC CancerStats: Mortality - UK. Cancer Research Campaign, June 2001