Ammunition to get Patients to Stop Smoking

The Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides persuasive information for patients who have been reluctant to give up smoking:

• Just 20 minutes after quitting, your heart rate drops
• 12 hours after quitting, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
• 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting, your heart attack risk begins to drop and your lung function begins to improve.
• 1 to 9 months after quitting, your coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
• A year after quitting, your added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker.
• 5 years after quitting, your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker.
• 10 years after quitting, your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker. Your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decreases.
• 15 years after quitting, your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a nonsmoker.

Source: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/how2quit.htm