SMOKING has some of the most harmful impacts on health and wellbeing – and people choose to inflict this harm by taking up smoking. People can choose not to smoke – it is hard to achieve but it can provide immediate and long term benefits.
For National No Smoking Day on 9 March 2022 Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals have outlined seven ways your health will improve when you stop smoking.
Quit smoking to live longer
Half of all long-term smokers die early from smoking-related diseases, including heart disease, lung cancer and chronic bronchitis.
Men who quit smoking by the age of 30 add 10 years to their life. People who kick the habit at 60 add 3 years to their life.
In other words, it’s never too late to benefit from stopping. Being smoke-free not only adds years to your life, but also greatly improves your chances of a disease-free, mobile, happier old age.
Stopping smoking lets you breathe more easily
People breathe more easily and cough less when they give up smoking because their lung capacity improves by up to 10% within 9 months.
In later years, having maximum lung capacity can mean the difference between having an active, healthy old age and wheezing when you go for a walk or climb the stairs.
Ditch the cigarettes and feel less stressed
The withdrawal from nicotine between cigarettes can heighten feelings of stress.
As the stress of withdrawal feels the same as other stresses, it’s easy to confuse normal stress with nicotine withdrawal, so it can seem like smoking is reducing other stresses.
But this is not the case. In fact, scientific studies show people’s stress levels are lower after they stop smoking.
If you find that you’re prone to stress, replacing smoking with a healthier, better way of dealing with stress can give you some real benefits.
Stopping smoking gives you more energy
Within 2 to 12 weeks of stopping smoking, your blood circulation improves. This makes all physical activity, including walking and running, much easier.
You’ll also give a boost to your immune system, making it easier to fight off colds and flu. The increase in oxygen in the body can also reduce tiredness and the likelihood of headaches.
Stop smoking for younger-looking skin
Stopping smoking has been found to slow facial ageing and delay the appearance of wrinkles.
The skin of a non-smoker gets more nutrients, including oxygen, and stopping smoking can reverse the sallow, lined complexion smokers often have.
Ex-smokers are also less likely than smokers to get gum disease and prematurely lose their teeth.
A smoke-free home protects your loved ones
By stopping smoking, you’ll be protecting the health of your non-smoking friends and family, too.
Breathing in secondhand smoke increases the risk of lung cancer, heart disease and stroke.
In children, it doubles the risk of getting chest illnesses, including pneumonia, ear infections, wheezing and asthma.
They also have 3 times the risk of getting lung cancer in later life compared with children who live with non-smokers.
If you want to achieve these benefits by stopping smoking your GP can refer you to an NHS stop smoking adviser, or you can phone your local stop smoking service to make an appointment with an adviser. The Smokefree National Helpline is 0300 123 1044.
