One of the most common comments made by longtime smokers who either can’t or refuse to quit is that it’s too late and the damage has already been caused.
But, studies have shown that although our lungs may have been damaged by smoking, quitting can often reverse many of the negative effects and the risk of cancer. Consider this: A smoker who quits at age 30 can reduce the chance of dying prematurely from a smoking-related disease by more than 90 percent. Someone who quits at age 50 reduces the risk of premature death by 50 percent compared with someone who continues to smoke. Even quitting at age 60 or older results in added years of life.
Quitting smoking reduces the risk of cancer and other diseases, such as heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, caused by smoking.
Various studies about smoking cessation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and others come to a common conclusion — the human body has an amazing ability to heal itself, especially for ex-smokers.
The minute a smoker quits, the risk of getting lung cancer, emphysema and chronic bronchitis begins to reduce and within months, the lungs begin to repair themselves. Smoking damages the cilia, those tiny, hair-like protrusions in the respiratory tract and lungs that move each time you breathe. Their purpose is to keep out foreign material or contagions and to help move mucus through the lungs. Once the cilia is destroyed, germs and contaminates are allowed into the lung and mucus is not moved through, causing a chronic cough.
If you quit before you contract cancer or other lung diseases, your chances of making a remarkable recovery are quite amazing. Within 72 hours, repair will begin and breathing will become easier because your bronchial tubes to the lungs will begin to relax. During the next three months, your circulation will have improved and your lung function will have increased by 30 percent.
A year later, you will have cut in half your risk of coronary disease. Cilia has regrown and that smoker’s cough, shortness of breath and congestion should be almost gone.
Five years later, your risk of having a stroke will be that of a nonsmoker. Ten years later, according to a U.S. Surgeon General’s report, you will have cut your risk of lung cancer by half and the risk of other related cancers, such as those of the mouth, throat and esophagus will have gone down considerably.
And if you’re a woman who quits smoking, your lung function is apt to improve twice as much as a man’s during the first year, according to a lung health study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, women who quit smoking before or early in their pregnancy reduce significant health problems for themselves and their babies. Women who smoke during pregnancy are about twice as likely to experience premature rupture of membranes, placental abruption and placenta previa, have about a 30 percent higher risk of having a premature baby, and have babies who are 1.4 to 3 times more likely to die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
If you’ve chosen to quit smoking, reports by the NCI and American Cancer Society show that you can enhance your lung recovery during the first nine months by making simple changes in your lifestyle — eating healthy food, getting adequate sleep and engaging in moderate exercise. In addition, you should drink at least a liter of water a day and take a steamy shower to help thin the mucus in the lungs.
And what if the damage has been done? One of the biggest decisions a longtime smoker makes is to quit once he or she has been diagnosed with lung cancer. That’s when the “I’ve already got it, it’s too late” argument comes in.
However, the National Cancer Institute encourages patients to quit immediately.
For those having surgery, chemotherapy or other treatments, stopping the habit allows the body to better heal and respond to therapy. It also lowers the risk of pneumonia and respiratory failure as well as reducing the risk of the return of the cancer of development of a second cancer.
Joyce Davis is a freelance writer who lives in Fort Collins. She can be reached at joycerhvitality@yahoo.com.
Smoking Facts
When you stop smoking, within:
• 20 minutes — your blood pressure, pulse rate and temperature of hands and feet return to normal.
• 8 hours — remaining nicotine in your bloodstream will fall to 6.25 percent of normal peak daily levels, a 93.25 percent reduction.
• 12 hours — your blood oxygen level will increase to normal and carbon monoxide levels will drop to normal.
• 24 hours — anxieties peak in intensity and within two weeks should return to pre-cessation levels.
• 48 hours — damaged nerve endings start to re-grow and your sense of smell and taste begin to return to normal. Cessation anger and irritability peaks.
• 72 hours — your entire body will test 100 percent nicotine-free and more than 90 percent of all nicotine metabolites (the chemical it breaks down to) will have been eliminated through urine. Lung bronchial tubes leading to air sacs are beginning to relax and breathing becomes easier and lung function is starting to increase.
• 10 days — the average ex-user is down to less than two crave episodes per day, each less than three minutes.
• 2 weeks — your addiction is no longer doing the talking; blood circulation to gums and teeth is now similar to a non-user.
• 3 weeks-3 months – your circulation has substantially improved; walking becomes easier and your chronic cough disappears.
• 1-9 months – any smoking related sinus congestion, fatigue or shortness of breath have decreased; cilia have regrown and are helping to keep lungs clean and reduce infections and overall energy has increased.
• 1 year — your excess risk of coronary heart disease, heart attack and stroke has dropped to less than half that of a smoker.
• 5-15 years — your risk of stroke has declined to that of a non-smoker.
• 10 years — your risk of being diagnosed with lung cancer is between 30 and 50 percent of that of a continuing smoker; risk of death from lung cancer has declined by almost half that of a one-pack a day smoker, and risk of pancreatic cancer has declined to that of a never-smoker. Cancer of mouth, throat and esophagus also has declined.
• 13 years — your risk of smoking-induced tooth loss is that of a never-smoker.
• 15 year — your risk of coronary heart disease is now that of a person who has never smoked.
• 20 years — female excess risk of death from all smoking-related causes, including lung disease and cancer is reduced to that of a never-smoker.
Sources: National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, whyquit.com and quitsmoking.com.
For help in quitting:
• National Cancer Institute: http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/smokeless and http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/symptoms-triggers-quitting or 1-800-422-6237
• Clearing the Air: Quit Smoking Today, http://www.smokefree.gov/pubs/clearing-the-air_acc.pdf
• Colorado QuitLine at 1-800-QuitNow, www.coquitline.org
