Dr. Joshpaul Jolly is a board-certified pulmonologist with the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group. He sees patients at the Kaiser Permanente Caton Hill Medical Center.
Quitting smoking is easier said than done. But the health benefits of quitting are significant. Your whole body reaps the benefits, not just your lungs.
Smoking as a habit has been around for millennia. As a board-certified pulmonologist, I am thrilled to see that some of the younger generations — including Millennials and Gen Z — are smoking at rates lower than older generations. I believe that younger generations are recognizing the adverse health effects of smoking and aren’t picking up cigarettes in the first place.
But if you’ve been smoking for a while and are interested in quitting, I encourage you to read on to learn about the myriad health benefits of putting down cigarettes.
Health Effects of Smoking
Smoking truly can affect the entire body. The biggest effects I see are the following:
- Respiratory-related issues. Smoking increases your risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a condition that is characterized by persistent respiratory symptoms and limits on the airflow out of the lungs. COPD increases your risk for severe lung infections. Smoking also increases your risk of emphysema. Bottom line: Smoking decreases your lung function and causes symptoms of respiratory distress including coughing, shortness of breath, mucus, and wheezing.
- Cancer. When people think of smoking, they think of lung cancer. Smoking is certainly the main cause of lung cancer in the U.S., but smoking also increases the risk of cancers of the bladder, head and neck, pancreas, kidneys, stomach, colon, liver, and esophagus, as well as certain leukemias. (Cancers of the head and neck include cancers of the mouth, throat, tongue, and lips, among others.)
- Cardiovascular disease. Smoking increases inflammation in the body, negatively affecting the blood vessels. This can lead to several heart-related issues, including heart attacks, coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, atrial fibrillation, stroke, and aneurysms. Smoking is responsible for one in four deaths from cardiovascular disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Benefits of Quitting Smoking
Giving up an addictive habit such as smoking is challenging. The first step is wanting to quit. Sometimes people are motivated by understanding the health benefits of quitting. Here is what I hope is some inspiration.
- Within minutes to hours of quitting, your blood pressure and heart rate will likely improve.
- Within days of quitting, your carbon monoxide levels return to normal levels. High carbon monoxide levels can lead to headaches, nausea, vomiting, and even an increased risk of death.
- Within three months of quitting smoking, circulation improves and lung function increases.
- Within a year, people with COPD start to see improvement in symptoms. People cough less, have less shortness of breath, and may have less mucus production.
- Within two years, heart attack risk drops.
- Within five to 10 years, the risk of developing cancer of the head or neck drops significantly as does the risk of having a stroke.
- Within a decade, lung cancer risk is about half of what it was. The risk of developing cancer of the bladder or esophagus also drops.
- Within 15 years, the risk of coronary artery disease returns to baseline — as if you had never smoked.
Quitting smoking also decreases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. And it improves the appearance of your teeth and fingernails.
Pregnancy and Smoking
Smoking while pregnant can lead to many negative effects, including preterm labor and a low birthweight baby. If you plan to become pregnant or are pregnant and smoke, talk to your physician about ways to quit.
Lung Cancer Screening
Patients are more likely to survive lung cancer if it is diagnosed and treated early. Early screening is vital to increasing the survival rate from lung cancer. The five-year survival rate is up to 60 percent if treated before it has spread.
At Kaiser Permanente, our focus on collecting smoking history gives us the information we need to screen more at-risk patients for lung cancer and catch cancer in the earlier and more treatable stage. Nearly 40 percent of Kaiser Permanente patients with lung cancer are diagnosed at Stage I; Often, patients can be treated with surgery and radiation and do not need chemotherapy.
Talking to Your Doctor about Quitting Smoking
If you are motivated to quit smoking, great! It’s never too late to reap the benefits of quitting smoking, even if you’ve been smoking for decades. I encourage you to talk to your doctor about different approaches to help, such as nicotine replacement therapy. The nicotine patch and nicotine gum can work very well. Patients should learn from a doctor how to best use this therapy.
Kaiser Permanente members can talk with wellness coaches trained to help people quit smoking.
I remind patients that if they stop smoking and relapse, that’s OK. Many people need a few attempts before they quit for good. Every time you try is a step in the right direction. Don’t give up and talk to your doctor if you need help.
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