Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking Timeline

Health Benefits Timeline

Your body starts to get back to normal when you stop smoking, helping alleviate the negative effects of smoking.

20 minutes

This first positive effect happens only 20 minutes after your last cigarette. Your blood pressure and pulse rate start to return to normal.¹

8 hours

After 8 hours, oxygen levels in your blood return to normal and the levels of nicotine and carbon monoxide are reduced by more than half.¹

Carbon monoxide crowds out oxygen in your brain, causing problems in your muscles and brain because they do not receive enough oxygen.²

By increasing in oxygen helps support tissues and blood vessels that received less oxygen while smoking.

24 hours

By 24 hours, your risk of a heart attack begins to decline.² Carbon monoxide which has been affecting your oxygen levels has been eliminated from your body. Your lungs start to clear out mucus and other smoking debris.

48 hours

After 2 days there’s no nicotine left in your body. Your ability to taste and smell is greatly improved as your brain nerve endings begin to heal.²

72 hours

By 3 days, breathing becomes easier. Your bronchial tubes begin to relax, and your energy levels increase as your lungs start to recover.¹ These changes make air exchange between carbon dioxide and oxygen easier for your body.

2 to 12 weeks

Within 2 weeks of quitting smoking, you start breathing easier. Circulation and oxygenation improve throughout the body, making walking and running a whole lot easier. You can exercise without feeling as out of breath and your risk of heart attack has decreased even more.²

3 to 9 months

By 3 to 9 months, your energy increases.

Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems get better as your lung function is increased by up to 10%. You can take deeper, clearer breaths. The fibers in your bronchial tubes regrow, helping you handle mucus, clean your lungs and reduce potential infections and cold.³

1 year

By 1 year, your heart-attack risk reduces by half compared to a person who still smokes.²

Your lungs have improved over the year, and you will notice how much easier you can breathe and how much less you cough.

3 to 5 years

Your heart-attack risk falls to about half that of a smoker.³

10 years

After a decade, your risk of lung cancer falls to half that of a smoker.

Other cancer risks, like, larynx, and pancreas cancer decrease.³

15 years

By 15 years, your risk of heart attack falls to the same as someone who has never smoked.¹

The long-term benefits of quitting smoking