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Health Information
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Saturday, November 22, 2008
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What Happens After
You
Quit Smoking
Immediate Rewards
Within 12 hours after
you have your last cigarette, your body will begin to heal itself.
The levels of carbon monoxide and nicotine in your system will
decline rapidly, and your heart and lungs will begin to repair
the damage caused by cigarette smoke.
Within a few days you will probably begin to notice some remarkable
changes in your body. Your sense of smell and taste may improve.
You will breathe easier, and your smoker's hack will begin to
disappear, although you may notice that you will continue to
cough for a while. And you will be free from the mess, smell,
inconvenience, expense, and dependence of cigarette smoking.
Immediate Effects
As your body begins
to repair itself, instead of feeling better right away, you
may feel worse for a while. It's important to understand that
healing is a processp;it begins immediately, but it continues
over time. These "withdrawal pangs" are really symptoms of the
recovery process (see Withdrawal Symptoms and Activities That Might Help).
Immediately after quitting, many ex-smokers experience "symptoms
of recovery" such as temporary weight gain caused by fluid retention,
irregularity, and dry, sore gums or tongue. You may feel edgy,
hungry, more tired, and more short-tempered than usual and have
trouble sleeping and notice that you are coughing a lot. These
symptoms are the result of your body clearing itself of nicotine,
a powerful addictive chemical. Most nicotine is gone from the
body in 2-3 days.
Long-range Benefits
It is important to
understand that the long range after-effects of quitting are
only temporary and signal the beginning of a healthier life.
Now that you've quit, you've added a number of healthy productive
days to each year of your life. Most important, you've greatly
improved your chances for a longer life. You have significantly
reduced your risk of death from heart disease, stroke, chronic
bronchitis, emphysema, and several kinds of cancerp;not
just lung cancer. (Cigarette smoking is responsible every year
for approximately 130,000 deaths from cancer, 170,000 deaths
from heart disease, and 50,000 deaths from lung disease.)
  
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