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Excerpts from INSTANT GRATIFICATION;
STOP SMOKING AND FEEL IMMEDIATE BENEFITS.
A NEW BOOK HAS ALL THE DETAILS.

Los Angeles Times [05/04/98]

AFTER QUITTING FOR:

TWENTY  MINUTES:

* Blood pressure decreases.

* Pulse rate drops.

* Body temperature of hands and feet increases.

EIGHT HOURS:

* Carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal.

* Oxygen level in blood increases to normal.

24 HOURS:

* Chance of heart attack decreases.

48 HOURS:

* Nerve endings start regrowing.

* Ability to smell and taste is enhanced.

TWO WEEKS TO THREE MONTHS:

* Circulation improves.

* Walking becomes easier.

* Lung function increases.

ONE TO NINE MONTHS:

* Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, shortness of breath decrease.

ONE YEAR:

* Excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker.

FIVE TO 15 YEARS:

* Stroke risk is reduced to that of people who never smoked.

TEN YEARS:

* Risk of lung cancer drops to as little as half that of people who continue to smoke.

* Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases.

* Risk of ulcer decreases.

FIFTEEN YEARS:

* Risk of coronary heart disease is now similar to that of people who have never smoked.

* Risk of death returns to nearly the level of people who have never smoked.
 
 

From "7 Steps to a Smoke-Free Life," by Edwin B. Fisher Jr., PhD, with Toni L. Goldfarb (Wiley), based on the American Lung Assn.'s Freedom From Smoking program.

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