What happens to your body when you quit smoking? – Ireland

Immediately after quitting

The change: Your blood pressure and heart rate return to normal.
Its meaning: Increased heart rate and blood pressure can strain your heart and increase your risk of suffering a heart attack. This risk immediately decreases—right after you quit smoking.

8 hours after quitting

The change: Your blood levels of carbon monoxide decrease by half.
Its meaning: Carbon monoxide impairs oxygen absorption from the lungs. Higher carbon monoxide levels mean lower oxygen levels. Oxygen is vital to your body’s energizing mechanisms. Therefore, you’ll experience a noticeable increase in your energy and alertness once you lower the carbon monoxide levels in your body.

24 hours after quitting

The change: Your body gets rid of all the carbon monoxide. Your risk of suffering a heart attack decreases by 50 percent.
Its meaning: Your capacity to engage in physical activity will increase. You will experience improved cardiovascular endurance, less fatigue, shorter recovery times after workouts, and lower heart rates during physical activities of varying levels of intensity.

48 hours after quitting

The change: Nicotine side effects are eliminated.
Its meaning: Aside from its addictive qualities, nicotine has several other unpleasant side effects on your body. It can induce nausea and vomiting, abdominal discomfort, and diarrhea. It increases your blood pressure and your likeliness to experience hypothermia and involuntary muscular contractions. Once you get rid of the nicotine in your body, you will also get rid of all these side effects.

2-21 weeks after quitting

The change: You will experience improved blood flow in your veins and arteries.
Its meaning: Impaired blood circulation can cause numerous health problems, ranging from cold feet, the slow healing of wounds, and Raynaud’s disease (a blood vessel condition) to peripheral vascular diseases (PVD), which can even lead to limb amputation. Quitting smoking will decrease your risk of suffering from most blood circulation issues in your veins and arteries.

10 years later

The change: Compared to a regular smoker, your risk of suffering from lung cancer is reduced by half.
Its meaning: Lung cancer is the most common form of cancer. Over 80 percent of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. Quitting your smoking habit can be the most important step you can take to lower your risk for lung cancer.

15 years later

The change: Your risk of suffering a heart attack is now equal to that of a nonsmoker.
Its meaning: You have a better chance of living a longer, healthier life.