CHICAGO (Reuters)  Women who stop smoking can enjoy major health benefits within five years, but it can take decades to correct respiratory damage and shed the added risk of lung cancer, researchers reported on Tuesday.

Those who stopped had a 13 percent reduction in the risk of death from all causes, including heart and vascular problems, within the first five years, the study found. After 20 years, the risk of death from any cause was the same for those who quit as for those who had never smoked.

For deaths due specifically to respiratory diseases, there was an 18 percent reduction within 5 to 10 years of quitting, reaching the level found in nonsmokers after 20 years.

Image Credit... Alexandre Meneghini/Associated Press

But while there was a 21 percent reduction in the risk of lung cancer death within five years, it took 30 years for that excess risk to disappear.