Stop smoking

What are the health benefits of stopping smoking?

All the anti smoking advertising, law and publicity seems a little overwhelming doesn’t it?
If we are really all so doomed is there any hope to be found in quitting? If our poor bodies have been so ravaged by these insidious cancer sticks, rather than put ourselves through the stress and strain of trying to quit would it not be a better idea to try and cram all the small pleasures we can into the short time that we have left?

The scare factor seems to be the way to go when it comes to giving up smoking. It certainly seems to be the method of choice for the government to help us wake up to ourselves and surely they’d know what’s best. So when I decided for the hundredth time that really, really, definitely now was the time to finally quit once and for all (and this time I mean it), the way I figured I would achieve this was by scaring myself into submission. I sat down and began Googling up all the most horrifying, disgusting, terrifying images and stories I could get hold of. After three hours I stopped and looked down at the remnants of the packet of Marlboro Reds I’d just chain smoked and decided that this was probably not the method that was going to work for me.
Instead I started thinking, surely these are worst case scenarios, surely we are not all doomed to suffer these fates – what about my mates cousins hairdressers grandmother who lived until she was 103 and smoked a pipe for 95 of those years because she started at the age of 8 since her dad was too lazy to light his own. What if she had quit when she was 35, she would have been unstoppable.

So I started looking for all the positive things I could find about quitting and I was quite surprised by what I found.

It seems that all is not lost after all. For a start if the cells in your lungs have not already turned cancerous they have a fantastic ability to repair themselves. Smoking can paralyze the microscopic hair like structures called cilia that line the respiratory tract. When functioning, the cilia act like a conveyor belt continually moving and bringing all the foreign materials and germs that enter the airways back out again. If these cilia stop working, all these particles can get down into the lungs and cause irritation and infection. The respiratory system then compensates by producing more mucus which must then be expelled, hence the ‘smokers cough’. The good news is if you stop smoking, in the first couple of days afterwards these cilia will begin to start working again. In fact a lot of the time, even while we smoke, some cilia start to work while we’re sleeping, which is why many smokers will wake up in the morning to a coughing fit - the lungs are already trying to get on with the work of repairing themselves.

Once the cilia are able to work unhindered they will begin clearing the lungs of phlegm and sputum which will cause increased coughing for the first couple of weeks but this is a good thing as your lungs begin to get themselves back to normal. As the body continues to clear the lungs over the following weeks, lung function and capacity will improve and continues to improve for up to the next 13 weeks.

Some other surprising facts are that after 8 hours, once smoking has stopped, the carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to normal and oxygen levels also normalize as a result. By 72 hours bronchial tubes will relax and breathing becomes easier.

Once smoking has ceased the body mounts a massive offensive to heal itself and regain health. In the months that follow the body will repair the linings of the mouth, throat and the bronchial tubes. The body can repair the tissues lining the windpipe regenerating cilia even if they have been destroyed by prolonged smoking and have not been present for years.

As the respiratory system is repaired, cardiac function is also greatly improved and this of course lowers the risk of any number of diseases cigarette smoke exposes us to which relate to poor circulation and low blood oxygen levels. The risk of cancer and other complications which can result from exposure to the toxins in cigarette smoke are also greatly reduced as these pollutants are eliminated from the body.

In the months and years that follow giving up smoking the body will continue to build on the improvements in vitality that have been achieved. With the increase in function of the circulatory, respiratory and immune systems as a basis, the body will continue to heal itself resulting in some impressive outcomes for health such as an increase in the field of vision of up to 20 percent.
And you guessed it, the benefits you’ll be rewarding yourself with by stopping smoking can be expanded and improved on even further with a regular exercise program. If you’re already engaged in one before you quit much more the better. If you’re someone who scoffs at the mere idea of such a thing, just think, if you got that far wouldn’t you owe it to yourself to go the whole way?

Yes cigarettes can cause horrific damage, pain and suffering however just because you smoke now does not mean it has to be a death sentence (or worse), never underestimate your body’s amazing ability to repair itself in spite of the punishment we dish out – that is, of course, if we give it the chance.