It is no secret that cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Yet, tobacco use can lead to dependence. Many people try multiple times to quit using tobacco products. Today there are effective treatments and resources for quitting.

Health Benefits of Quitting Tobacco Over Time

20 minutes - reduced heart rate and blood pressure

12 hours - normalized level of carbon monoxide in your blood

2 week to 3 months - improved circulation and lung function

1 to 9 months - decreased coughing/shortness of breath and normalized lung functioning

1 year - reduced risk of coronary heart disease, though still a greater risk than a nonsmoker

5 years - reduced risk of stroke

10 years - reduced risk of lung, mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix and pancreatic cancer

15 years - reduced risk of coronary heart disease to that of a nonsmoker

The Effects of Secondhand Smoke

In adults who have never smoked, secondhand smoke can cause heart disease and/or lung cancer.

For nonsmokers, breathing secondhand smoke has immediate harmful effects on the cardiovascular system that can increase the risk for heart attack. People who already have heart disease are at especially high risk

Nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home or work increase their heart disease risk by 25–30%.

Secondhand smoke exposure causes an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths annually among adult nonsmokers in the United States.

Nonsmokers who are exposed to second hand smoke at home or work increase their lung cancer risk by 20-30%

Social Smoking

Social smokers light up regularly but not daily. They only have a cigarette when they go out with friends and drink. They think, "I will smoke a little in social situations and quit later." The facts about social smoking include:

There is really no safe amount of smoking.

One cigarette can lead to another.

If you smoke at all you are at an increased risk for cancer and heart disease.

Second hand smoke is dangerous.

Social smoking can lead to regular smoking.

The bottom line: choose not to smoke. Not when you drink, not when you study, not when you are out with friends.

Hookah

Some people believe that smoking hookah is safer than smoking cigarettes because the hookah smoke is filtered through water before it is inhaled. The truth is smoking hookah has the same risks as smoking cigarettes. Hookah smokers actually inhale more nicotine than do cigarette smokers because of the massive volume of smoke they inhale. Also, the smoke produced still contains high level of toxic compounds and carcinogens.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2014 [accessed 2015 Oct 5].

www.who.int