15 benefits of quitting: reasons to quit
The vast majority of the population knows that tobacco is bad for health , linking to such serious problems (among many others) as a much greater likelihood of lung cancer, a decrease in life expectancy and severe respiratory problems (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and cardiovascular.
Although even today the fact of smoking is still socially seen, a large number of smokers are considering trying to leave this dangerous dependence.
Although it is difficult and at first some anxiety usually appears, in the long term quitting is highly beneficial. In order to make clear some of the advantages of achieving this, in this article we will see 15 benefits of stop smoking .
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Smoking: brief definition
Before starting to name the various benefits of quitting tobacco, it may be advisable to make a small mention of the problem we are dealing with.
Smoking is defined as the physical and especially psychological dependence that a consumer manifests towards tobacco and specifically towards its main component, nicotine . This dependence comes from a progressive habituation to nicotine, the body has become accustomed to nicotine and needs more and more amounts of tobacco to notice the same effects and a series of physiological symptoms (for example anxiety).
Tobacco addiction, although culturally and throughout history has been well seen and has even been associated with moments of relaxation and socialization, has serious consequences for health when the consumption of prolongs for years.
As we mentioned in the introduction, it is linked to a decrease in life expectancy, is usually behind the vast majority of cases of COPD and influences other respiratory diseases , it makes the blood vessels more fragile and brittle (something that also facilitates cardiovascular problems and favors the appearance of stroke), increases the level of fatigue in the face of physical activity, can generate erectile dysfunction or malformations in fetuses and has been linked for years to the feared lung cancer. These are just some of the possible repercussions that its long-term maintenance can cause.
This information, together with other factors (the fact that it can also affect passive smokers such as children, economic spending or the reduced ability to maintain a physical effort, for example) make many try to quit, although the cessation of consumption is usually generate withdrawal symptoms such as desire for consumption, anxiety and irritability.
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Stop smoking: benefits of cessation of use
Knowing the advantages of leaving a smoker for a smoker , mainly related to the cessation or reduction of the risks or effects of tobacco consumption, can help to visualize the objective as something desirable. It is important to bear in mind that these benefits may not be experienced in some cases, in which problems that will be permanent have already appeared.
Next we will see a fortnight of the most habitual benefits.
1. Recovery of normal heart rate and blood pressure
This effect is probably one of the fastest to occur, since it appears at twenty minutes of non-consumption. There is also an improvement in lung capacity and circulation during the first month, and in both cases the improvement increases with the passage of time until reaching normality.
2. Life expectancy returns little by little to normal
Compared to a non-smoker, someone with addiction to tobacco is reducing their life expectancy based on consumption and the time it starts to do so. Specifically, leaving it before 30 usually implies a life expectancy ten years greater than those who continue to do so , whereas in quarantine the average would be in nine, in the fifty in six and in the sixty in three.
3. The risk of cancer is reduced
Probably lung cancer is the disease with which smoking has traditionally been related most. In addition to this, another of the most common in smokers is the trachea. These and others like the bladder, pancreas or mouth will see how the cessation of consumption reduces over time their probability of occurrence by halving at ten years.
4. Lung capacity recovered
Although some of the damage will never be reversed, as with life expectancy, part of the lung capacity will recover as the years go by without smoking.
Little by little the typical bronchitis and chill is reduced (although at the beginning of quitting tobacco it is usually coughing more than before since the body tries to expel the mucus from the lungs), besides increase the amount of time you can keep doing physical exercise . Fatigue usually decreases from the first month, in line with the progressive recovery of said lung capacity.
5. The risk of coronary and cerebrovascular disease is reduced
Another of the most common causes of death in smokers is coronary heart disease, something that will gradually be reduced as time passes without consumption. Already during the first year the risks are reduced to almost half, and at fifteen years without smoking it is estimated that the risk of coronary problem is already similar to that of a non-smoker.
In the same way, the probability of stroke is reduced to normal (in a period that can range between five or ten years to arrive, depending on each case). It also decreases the risk of recurrence of coronary events.
6. Improves the immune system: less chance of getting sick
As a general rule it has been observed that smokers tend to get sick more often than those who do not, being able, for example, to take on various infections more easily. And is that Tobacco worsens the functioning of the immune system . As time goes by without the ex-smoker consuming, the ability of said system to defend itself from aggressions and harmful elements will increase again until normal.
7. Smell and taste return to normal
One of the alterations that probably know those who smoke is the fact that little by little they will be losing faculties in relation to the olfactory and gustatory perception, since the nervous system will be losing functionality with consumption. Fortunately, with a few days of abstinence, these senses return to normal functioning .
8. Reduces the likelihood of injuries, broken bones and muscle problems
Although it may not be well known, the fact is that it has been observed that smokers have a greater tendency to suffer fractures and broken bones or muscle injuries, and in turn usually take longer to recover. The same happens with surgical injuries. Quitting smoking may not restore damaged structures, but it may return to normal the rate of tissue recovery .
9. Less dizziness and headaches
Although it does not occur in all people, it is not uncommon for very habitual smokers to suffer from dizziness and headaches caused by the narrowing and increase in the fragility of the blood vessels of the brain, as well as by the lower amount of oxygen reaching the brain. this.
Those who quit smoking are likely to initially experience an increase in these symptoms, but according to the oxygen levels that reach the brain are improved These problems will be progressively reduced.
10. Contributes to improve sexuality
It is known that smoking can generate a decrease in erectile capacity in men, something that can be reversed to the point of recovering the usual erectile capacity (although it will depend on each case). And not only in the erection itself, but the desire and satisfaction achieved during intercourse also greater in both sexes by not being the blood flow and the oxygenation of the erogenous zones impaired by the vasoconstrictive effects of nicotine.
11. Favors fertility
Another possible effect of smoking is the worsening and loss of quality of semen and sperm, making it difficult to have children. In addition, in case of pregnancy, the fact that the mother smokes can make it easier for them to appear alterations and malformations in the fetus, as well as spontaneous abortions . Quitting smoking decreases this risk.
12. Healthier skin and teeth
Tobacco also has an adverse effect on the skin, generating premature aging of the skin. Also the denture is affected, favoring the arrival of problems such as tartar and pyorrhea and coloring the teeth. Although in this sense the problems that have already appeared do not usually disappear (although the skin's shine and its elasticity usually recover), quitting smoking will prevent them from accentuating.
13. An effect on the economy
Although it is not a direct effect on health, the fact of quitting also supposes the cessation of a habitual and constant expense, in addition to increasingly high (as the price increases).
14. Strengthening self-esteem and self-efficacy
Leaving an addiction like that of tobacco is something that can be extremely hard for those who suffer from it, since both their bodies and their minds have become accustomed to working with constant doses of nicotine. Being successful when leaving it, therefore, requires a constancy and strength that in case of achieving the final objective can encourage an improvement of one's self-esteem and confidence in one's own possibilities.
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15. Benefits for others
Not only the health itself is favored by the cessation of smoking, but the usual close environment will also be less likely to suffer some health problems derived from his condition of passive smoker .
Bibliographic references:
- American Cancer Society (s.f.).The benefits of quitting smoking over time. [On-line]. Available at: //www.cancer.org/es/saludable/mantengase-alejo-del-tabaco/los-beneficios-que-delrecededejar-de-fumar-con-el-paso-del-tiempo.html
- World Health Organization. (s.f.). The main beneficial effects of quitting. Tobacco Free Initiative [Online]. Available at: //www.who.int/tobacco/quitting/benefits/es/.
