Here are some interesting facts to help you to decide to stop smoking.

After 20 minutes:

Blood pressure and pulse rate return to normal. Circulation improves in hands and feet, making them warmer.

After eight hours:

nicotine and carbon monoxide levels fall, blood oxygen levels return to normal. Chances of a heart attack start to fall.

After 24 hours:

lungs begin to work better as carbon monoxide is removed from body.

Within 48 hours:

final traces of nicotine leave the system; nerve endings start to regrow, ability to taste and smell enhanced.

Within 72 hours:

bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier, lung capacity increases, energy levels increase.

One month to nine months:

withdrawal symptoms should have stopped, risk of heart attack, cancer and other "smoking" diseases begins to fall; decreases in coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, improvements in shortness of breath, lungs cleaner and reduced risk of infection, overall body energy levels increase.

Five years:

risk of stroke returns to normal; lung cancer death rate decreases. Risk of heart attack falls to about half that of a smoker.

Ten years:

precancerous cells replaced; reduced risk of mouth, larynx, oesophageal, bladder, kidney and pancreatic cancer.

Risk of lung cancer falls to about half that of a smoker. Risk of a heart attack falls to about the same as someone who has never smoked.

15 years:

risk of coronary heart disease and death returns to normal

Updated: 10:02 Monday, May 09, 2005