quitting-smoking's benefits

Q. How long after I quit smoking are there benefits?

1. 20 minutes: blood pressure

Sooner than you think. According to healthbolt.net, after a few minutes your blood pressure returns to normal levels.

2. two days: taste and smell

Keep it up for 48 hours and your senses of smell and taste return, while your risk of having a heart attack begins to decrease.

3. three days: bronchial tubes

After 72 hours the bronchial tubes relax and your overall energy levels begin to increase. You can walk up stairs again!

4. one year: heart disease

In 12 months the probability of having a heart attack drops by half.

5. five years: stroke

At this point the likelihood of your brain getting punked returns to that of a nonsmoker.

6. ten years: lung cancer

After a decade your odds of a death sentence return to non-smoker status. Five more years and your heart attack risk falls to ordinary levels.

bad news for smokers

You can't quit halfway:

When you quit smoking, it's all or nothing, says Scientific American. In a Norwegian study of 51,000 people over a 20-year period, researchers found that just cutting back on cigarettes didn't reduce the risk of death. Those who quit completely significantly boosted their long-term health. But those who cut their pack-a-day habit by half suffered the same consequences as those who still smoke the whole pack. Both groups suffered impaired cardiovascular health and serious heart and lung damage.

While you're quitting, it's okay to start off by cutting back so that withdrawal symptoms are not severe, says Dr. Kjell Bjartveit, who led the study. But to reap the health benefits, stop smoking altogether, says Bjartveit. "You can't give your health a better present."