The body starts to clean itself almost as soon as you stop smoking – see how soon it recovers

The combination of nicotine and tar is strongly addictive, but you should strive to be free. The cleansing of the body starts almost immediately!

• 20 minutes The hands and feet feel warm because the peripheral blood circulation intensifies. Blood pressure normalizes, heart rate stabilizes.
• 1 day Carbon dioxide inhaled in cigarette smoke disappears from the body and the lungs begin to be cleaned.
• 2 days The sense of smell and taste improve. Nicotine leaves the body.
• 3 days Breathing becomes easier when the bronchial constriction and mucus decreases. Cough and phlegm increase within 1–2 months.
• 1 week Skin color and potency improve when the blood circulation intensifies.
• 3 weeks The physical withdrawal symptoms subside because the neurons are released from their craving for nicotine. The feeling of stress is relieved and the quality of sleep improves.
• 1-2 months Walking and running improve, energy increases. When the condition increases, viral flus do not strike as easily as before.
• 3 months The psychological and social dependence begins to ease and cigarettes are not on the mind all the time.
• 6 months Smoking cough and breathing difficulties are a thing of the past.
• 1 year The risk of coronary artery disease is halved.
• 5 years The risk of sudden death and lung cancer is substantially reduced. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes drops to the level of non-smokers.
• 10 years The risk of having a stroke returns to the level of a non-smoker. Among other things, the need for many medicines decreases.

Here’s to many more healthy years!

Expert: Hanna Ollila, VTM, smoking prevention expert, THL.

This article has appeared in Hyvä tervey magazine. As a subscriber, you can read all issues free of charge from the digilehdet.fi service.