When someone stops smoking, the body starts to recover within minutes. Heart rate begins to fall almost at once, carbon monoxide clears from the blood within days, breathing improves over months, and the risks of heart disease and several cancers keep dropping for years.
The infographic above, a widely shared “15 year timeline” that credits the American Cancer Society, sums this up. Below we walk through each stage, check it against the current figures from the American Cancer Society and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and add what the picture leaves out.
The first minutes, hours and days
Minutes: Both the American Cancer Society and the CDC say heart rate starts to drop within minutes of the last cigarette. The infographic’s figure of 20 minutes is a reasonable shorthand for this.
Hours to a few days: The infographic says carbon monoxide in the blood returns to normal after 12 hours. Current CDC guidance is more cautious: nicotine in the blood falls to zero within about 24 hours, and carbon monoxide returns to a non-smoker’s level within several days. Carbon monoxide matters because it binds to red blood cells in place of oxygen.
This is also when withdrawal usually starts. Common symptoms include cravings, restlessness, irritability, trouble sleeping, low mood, poor concentration and increased hunger. Smokefree.gov, run by the US National Cancer Institute, notes that symptoms are usually strongest in the first few days or weeks, and the worst of them typically last from a few days to a couple of weeks.
Weeks to the first year
The infographic says circulation and lung function improve after two weeks, and that between one and nine weeks coughing and shortness of breath ease as the cilia, the tiny hair-like structures lining the airways, start working normally again and clear mucus more effectively.
Today’s official timelines spread this over a longer period: both the CDC and the American Cancer Society put the drop in coughing and shortness of breath at 1 to 12 months after quitting. Some people notice easier breathing within weeks; for others it takes much of the first year. A cough that briefly gets worse early on is often reported as the airways start clearing, but any persistent or worrying cough should be checked by a doctor.
One to fifteen years: heart and cancer risk
The longer-term part of the infographic is broadly in line with current advice, with a few updates:
1 to 2 years: the risk of heart attack drops sharply. The infographic’s claim that the extra heart disease risk is halved after one year is now placed at 3 to 6 years by the CDC.
5 to 10 years: the added risk of cancers of the mouth, throat and voice box is cut in half, and stroke risk falls.
10 years: the risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of someone who still smokes, and the risks of bladder, oesophageal and kidney cancer decrease.
15 years: the risk of coronary heart disease comes close to that of a non-smoker.
20 years: a stage the infographic leaves out. The risks of mouth, throat, voice box and pancreatic cancer approach those of a non-smoker, and the added risk of cervical cancer falls by about half.
What the timeline cannot promise
A timeline describes averages, not personal deadlines. How fast risks fall depends on how long and how heavily someone smoked, their age and their other health conditions. Some damage, such as lung tissue lost to emphysema, does not grow back, and there is no single day on which all previous risk disappears.
The good news is that the benefits apply at any age. The CDC says quitting helps no matter how long or how much someone has smoked, earlier is better, and stopping can add as much as 10 years to life expectancy. It also lowers the risk of heart and blood vessel disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and 12 types of cancer, and it benefits pregnant women and their babies.
Practical help for quitting
Willpower alone works for some people, but support makes a measurable difference. According to the World Health Organization, counselling and medication can more than double a tobacco user’s chance of quitting successfully.
In the United States, the free quitline 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) offers phone coaching. Approved medicines include nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers and nasal sprays, as well as varenicline and bupropion. Other countries have their own national quit services. A doctor or pharmacist can help choose the right combination and explain how to use it safely.
It also helps to plan for the hardest first week: decide what to do when a craving hits, remove cigarettes and lighters from home and car, and tell friends or family so they can help.
Why it is worth it
Tobacco kills more than 7 million people a year worldwide, and second-hand smoke causes more than 1.6 million additional premature deaths among non-smokers, according to the WHO. Every year without smoking moves a person further down that risk curve, and the first benefits begin the same day.
The infographic first circulated via Memolition and Truth Code.
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Sources: American Cancer Society: Health benefits of quitting over time; CDC: Benefits of quitting smoking; CDC Tips: How to quit smoking; Smokefree.gov: Understanding withdrawal; WHO: Tobacco fact sheet.
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