When you take the decision to stop smoking, it doesn't matter how long you've been smoking, for 20 minutes, 20 days or 20 years the fact is - that in around 20 minutes from taking your last cigarette, your body will begin to restore and repair itself! There are around 7 fast results will have a significant impact as soon as you have stopped smoking.
These are experiences to look out for as you tick down the minutes and hours of being smoke free! How much could the following things could improve your daily life?

• Food tastes like its the first food you've tasted in years! When was it that food stopped tasting so incredible? More to the point, how recently was it that you noticed again how good food began to taste again?
• The yellowing that was staining your teeth and nails begins to slowly but surely fade.
  
• Your "olfaction" returns to normal - which is a fancy way of saying that your sense of smell improves!
• Whilst on the subject of the sense of smell, you will notice a difference in the way your breath, your hair, clothes, car and home begin to smell better.
  
• Remember those little things that used to leave you coughing or out of breath - for example, walking up a flight of stairs, vacuuming the carpets at home, running after the dog or taking the children to the park - is it different now?
• Did you know too - that tobacco can have wrinkling and aging effects on your skin? The sooner you stop, the faster your skin can begin to repair itself.
  
• Smoking also will increase the damage to your gums, causing gum disease.
  

Are you ready to see now what will improve with a little more time?

1. After 20 minutes your blood pressure and your heart rate will drop as the chemicals in your system begin to dissipate.
   (a)
2. The carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal levels after 12 hours.
   (b)
3. Your circulation and your lung function increases from 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting.
   (c)
4. The coughing and shortness of breath decrease anywhere between 1 to 9 months after quitting.
   The cilia, the things that move mucus out of the lungs regain their normal function in the lungs, which increases their ability to clean the lungs by handling the mucus more efficiently and thereby reducing the risk of infection.
   (d)
5. The higher risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone continuing to smoke 1 year after quitting.
   (e)
6. The risk of you having a stroke as a result of smoking is reduced to that of someone who has never smoked 5 years to 15 years after quitting.
   
7. The chances of you dying from lung cancer after 10 years of being smoke-free is about half that of someone continuing to smoke.
   The chances of you developing other cancers also decrease - such as cancer of the throat, mouth, esophagus, cervix, pancreas and bladder.
   (g)
8. The risk of developing coronary heart disease is now about half that of someone who has never smoked 15 years after you have quit.
   (h)

Sources

• (a) (Effect of smoking on arterial stiffness and pulse pressure amplification, Mahmud A, Feely J.
  2003.
  Hypertension:41:183.
  )
• (b) (US Surgeon General's Report, 1988
• (c,d,e,f,g,h ) (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990