Benefits of quitting
Benefits and effects of quitting smoking
Quitting smoking benefits your health and reduces exposure to cigarette smoke for people around you. Here are changes you can look forward to over time. You can also explore: What happens when you quit smoking.
Health benefits of quitting
- Reduces the risk of many types of cancer:
- Lung
- Mouth
- Throat
- Larynx
- Esophagus
- Kidney
- Bladder
- Cervix
- Colon
- Rectum
- Liver
- Pancreas
- Stomach
- Acute myeloid leukemia
- Lowers the risk of heart disease.
- Lowers the risk of developing COPD.
- Reduces coughing, mucus and wheezing.
- Improves quality of life.
- Benefits circulation and respiratory health.
- Quitting can add up to 10 years to life expectancy compared with continuing to smoke.
Physical benefits of quitting
- Your senses of taste and smell can improve.
- Your teeth are no longer being stained by cigarette tar.
- Less cigarette smoke odor on your breath, clothes and surroundings.
Social and family benefits of quitting
Quitting removes your cigarette smoke from shared spaces and helps protect people around you from secondhand smoke.
You also stop spending money on cigarettes. Use our quit-smoking savings calculator to estimate what that could mean for your budget.
Sex, reproductive and pregnancy benefits of quitting
Quitting reduces the risk of poor reproductive-health outcomes. Stopping before or early in pregnancy can lower the risk of premature birth; quitting during pregnancy reduces the risk of delivering a baby with low birth weight.
Emotional benefits of quitting
After the withdrawal stage, stopping smoking is associated with less anxiety, depression and stress. During the early days, nicotine withdrawal can temporarily affect mood.
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