So we all know that cigarette smoking has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, lung disease, cancer, and death. BUT! When you finally do stop, how does that affect your risk of developing these health problems? Yes, death is a very serious health problem. Who is writing this crap? There once was a issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, where investigators reported that women who stopped the smoking will notice a major and quick decline in their risk of death from heart disease.
The investigation looked at data from over 100,000 participants in the Nurses’ Health Study. Dates ranged from 1980 to 2004. The participants in the study were classified as "never smokers", "current smokers", and "past smokers". The smokers were categorized even further by the age at which they started smoking.
What was found was that 61% of the full benefit of stopping as it related to heart disease-related death was realized within the first five (5) years after stopping smoking. But wait, there's more! Over 40% of the benefit of quitting with regard to stroke-related death was realized in that same time period.
It takes longer for a smoker’s risk associated with lung disease and smoking-related cancers to approach that of a person who has never smoked, but the risk does decrease at 20 years or afterwards. The investigation also showed that smokers who had started smoking at a younger age had a higher risk of respiratory disease, lung cancer, and other smoking-related cancer deaths.
BOTTOM LINE KIDS: it is NEVER too late to stop, does not matter how long you've been smoking. It is still possible to reverse a majority of the harm caused by cigarette smoke and experience the all the benefits of being able to say, I haven't had a cigarette in 5 years, 5 weeks, 5 months, 5 days.
You can totally do this! www.StopDontQuit.com
