How Fast Do Lungs Recover After Quitting Smoking?

Ready for some good news? Once you’ve quit smoking (and we know you can!), here’s what you can look forward to:

Three Months

Within three months of stopping smoking, the lung function (the amount and speed of air that can be inhaled and exhaled) begins to improve.

One year

During the first smoking-free year, the small hair-like cilia in the lungs improve their ability to move mucus and clean the lungs. Problems such as shortness of breath and coughing become less frequent.

Ten Years

After 10 years of not smoking, a U.S. Surgeon General's report shows that the risk of lung cancer drops to less than half that of an individual who smokes.

Women

A Lung Health Study sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) showed that women's lung function improved twice as much as men's during the first year after stopping smoking.

Warning

According to a 2004 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, "The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General," former smokers will always have a higher risk of lung cancer than those who have never smoked.

Read more: http://www.happynews.com/living/smoking/fast-lungs-recover-quitting-smoking.htm

Quitting Smoking – Help for Cravings and Tough Situations

So you've quit smoking. That's amazing, and congratulations. But now what? There are still smokers everywhere, not to mention reminders of "the old you" everywhere you turn. As great as it feels to finally be a nonsmoker, it can still be overwhelming to readjust to the world and fight the temptation to light up.

Cancer.org has put together a really great list of tips to help you ease into your new smoke-free life. Take a look!

How can I get through rough spots after I stop smoking?

• For the first few days after you quit smoking, spend as much free time as you can in public places where smoking is not allowed. (Places like libraries, malls, museums, theaters, restaurants without bars, and churches are often smoke-free. Look for the no-smoking signs.)
• Take care of yourself. Drink water, eat well, and get enough rest. This can help you have the energy you may need to handle extra stress.
• Don’t drink alcohol, coffee, or any other drinks you link with smoking. Try something else instead – maybe different types of water, sports drinks, or 100% fruit juices. Try to choose drinks that are low- or no-calorie.
• If you miss the feeling of having a cigarette in your hand, hold something else – a pencil, a paper clip, a coin, or a marble, for example.
• If you miss the feeling of having something in your mouth, try toothpicks, cinnamon sticks, sugarless gum, sugar-free lollipops, or celery. Some people chew on a straw or stir stick.
• Avoid temptation – stay away from people and places you link with smoking.
• Find new habits and create a non-smoking environment around you.
• Be ready for future situations or crises that might make you want to smoke again, and think of all the important reasons you have decided to quit. To remind yourself of these reasons, you may want to put a picture of the people who are the most important to you somewhere you see it every day, or keep one handy in your purse or wallet.
• Take deep breaths to relax. Picture your lungs filling with fresh, clean air.
• Remember your goal and the fact that the urges to smoke will get better over time.
• Think positive thoughts about how awesome it is that you are quitting smoking and getting healthy. If you notice your thoughts taking a downturn, try replacing them with a mental picture of your goal. Remember that quitting is a learning process. Be patient with yourself.
• Brush your teeth and enjoy that fresh taste.
• Exercise in brief bursts (try alternately tensing and relaxing muscles, push-ups, lunges, walking up the stairs, or touching your toes).
• Call a friend, family member, or a telephone stop-smoking help-line when you need extra help or support.
• Eat 4 to 6 small meals during the day instead of 1 or 2 large ones. This keeps your blood sugar levels steady, your energy balanced, and helps prevent the urge to smoke. Avoid sugary or spicy foods that may trigger a desire to smoke.
• Above all, reward yourself for doing your best. Give yourself rewards often if that’s what it takes to keep going. Plan to do something fun.

When you get the “crazies”
Cravings are real – they’re not just your imagination. When you feel the “crazies” you may also notice that your mood changes, and your heart rate and blood pressure may go up. Try these tips to get through these times, and hang in there – the cravings will get better:

• Keep substitutes handy that you can suck or chew on, such as carrots, pickles, apples, celery, raisins, or sugar-free gum or hard candy.
• Know that anger, frustration, anxiety, irritability, and even depression are normal after quitting and will get better with time. See your doctor if these feelings last for more than a month.
• Take 10 deep breaths, and hold the last one while lighting a match. Exhale slowly and blow out the match. Pretend it is a cigarette and put it out in an ashtray.
• Go for a walk. Exercise can improve your mood and relieve stress.
• Take a shower or bath.
• Learn to relax quickly and deeply. Make yourself go limp. Think about a soothing, pleasing situation, and imagine yourself there. Get away from it all for a moment. Focus on that peaceful image and nothing else.
• Light incense or a candle instead of a cigarette.
• Tell yourself “no.” Say it out loud. Practice doing this a few times, and listen to yourself. Some other things you can say to yourself might be, “I’m too strong to give in to smoking,” “I’m not a smoker now,” or “I don’t want to let my friends and family down.”
• Never allow yourself to think that “one cigarette won’t hurt,” because it very likely will.
• Wear a rubber band around your wrist. Whenever you have a thought about smoking, snap it against your wrist to remind yourself of all the unpleasant reasons that made you want to quit in the first place. Then remember that you will not always need a rubber band to help you stay in line with your plans to quit.

Lots more great ideas on Cancer.org!

Stories of Former Smokers: Meet James

We start smoking for the strangest reasons, but they all seem to involve what other people think of us. Anyone else notice that pattern?

James' father was well liked and influential in the community. He also was a smoker. So James' attempts to be more like his father naturally included smoking cigarettes, starting at age 14. But 30 years later, the damage from smoking started causing him health problems, and eventually he decided to quit.

Now 48, James has been smoke-free for 2 years. He says quitting was hard—patches and sugar-free gum helped him—but his health continues to be a big motivator. Since he quit smoking, James has been able to make other important changes to improve his health. He became an avid cyclist, and began riding several miles to see his doctor at the VA hospital, “…a real accomplishment for me.” Now that he sees a doctor closer to his home, he still makes a point to ride 9 or 10 miles every day for exercise. He also enjoys swimming and does some sort of cardio exercise every morning.

James wanted to participate in the Tips From Former Smokers campaign to send a message to people who think smoking isn't going to hurt them just because they haven't experienced a smoking-related health problem yet. He says if you smoke, you should quit.

“I want to help people like me quit smoking—people in their forties. Maybe nothing really bad has happened to them yet,” says James. “Maybe you're lucky, but you're probably not going to stay lucky.”

Read more stories of former smokers at CDC.gov. 

Social disapproval stronger than fear for smokers trying to quit

Do you find that this is true in your experience?

“In 2008, the United Kingdom became one of the first countries in Europe to make it mandatory for cigarette packets sold within the U.K. to display fear-provoking, graphic anti-smoking images, founded on the assumption that the use of fear is an effective method to encourage smokers to quit,” says Scitechdaily.com. “However, in contrast to the assumed effects of fear on quitting intentions, a series of experiments conducted by [psychologists at Canterbury Christ Church University] consistently revealed that fear provoked by graphic images had no effect on smokers’ intentions to stop smoking. Instead, the researchers found that smokers were more willing to consider quitting if they accepted non-smokers’ negative attitudes toward their habit.”

Read more at The Globe and Mail.

Help Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free

Did you start smoking as a teenager? Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers did too. Do you want that to happen to the next generation of teens? Read on for important new information about tobacco use among youth and young adults, the causes, and the solutions. Let's end the tobacco epidemic!

Surgeon General's reports (SGRs) on tobacco are among the most credible and respected reviews of current data in all of science. Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, U.S. Surgeon General, has just releasedPreventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General, which is the 31st SGR on tobacco produced by CDC since 1964.

This latest report details important new facts about the epidemic of tobacco use among youth ages 12 through 17 and young adults ages 18 through 25, including the epidemiology, causes, and health effects of this tobacco use and interventions proven to prevent it.

Tobacco Use Among Young People

We've made progress in reducing tobacco use among youth; however, far too many young people are still using tobacco. Today, more than 600,000 middle school students and 3 million high school students smoke cigarettes. Rates of decline for cigarette smoking have slowed in the last decade, and rates of decline for smokeless tobacco use have stalled completely. In addition:

• Every day, more than 1,200 people in this country die due to smoking. For each of those deaths, at least two youth or young adults become regular smokers each day. Almost 90% of those replacement smokers smoke their first cigarette by age 18.
• Rates of smokeless tobacco use are no longer declining and appear to be increasing among some groups.
• Cigars, especially cigarette-sized cigars, are popular with youth. One out of five male high school students smokes cigars, and cigar use appears to be increasing among other groups.
• Use of multiple tobacco products, including cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco, is common among young people.
• Prevention efforts must focus on young adults ages 18 through 25. Almost no one starts smoking after age 25. Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers started smoking by age 18, and 99% started by age 26. Progression from occasional to daily smoking almost always occurs by age 26.

Immediate and Long-Term Damage

Tobacco use by youth and young adults causes both immediate and long-term damage. One of the most serious health effects is nicotine addiction, which prolongs tobacco use and can lead to severe health consequences. The younger that youth are when they start using tobacco, the more likely they'll be addicted. Other stark facts include the following:

• Early cardiovascular damage is seen in most young smokers; those most sensitive die very young.
• Smoking reduces lung function and retards lung growth. Teens who smoke are not only short of breath today—they may end up as adults whose lungs will never grow to full capacity. Such damage is permanent and increases the risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
• Youth are sensitive to nicotine and can feel dependent earlier than adults. Because of nicotine addiction, about three out of four teen smokers end up smoking into adulthood, even if they intend to quit after a few years.
• Among youth who persist in smoking, a third will die prematurely from smoking.

Social and Environmental Influences

Youth are vulnerable to social and environmental influences to use tobacco; messages and images that make tobacco use appealing to them are everywhere. In addition:

• Young people want to fit in with their peers. Images in tobacco marketing make tobacco use look appealing to this age group.
• Youth and young adults see smoking in their social circles, movies they watch, video games they play, Web sites they visit, and many communities where they live. Smoking is often portrayed as a social norm, and young people exposed to these images are more likely to smoke.
• Youth identify with peers they see as social leaders and may imitate their behavior. Those youth whose friends or siblings smoke are more likely to smoke.
• Youth who are exposed to images of smoking in movies are more likely to smoke. Those who get the most exposure to onscreen smoking are about twice as likely to begin smoking as those who get the least exposure. Images of smoking in movies have declined over the past decade; however, in 2010, nearly a third of top-grossing movies produced for children—those with ratings of G, PG, or PG-13—contained images of smoking.  

Tobacco Industry Activities

Tobacco companies spend more than $1 million an hour in this country alone to market their products. This report concludes that tobacco product advertising and promotions still entice far too many young people to start using tobacco.

• The tobacco industry has stated that its marketing only promotes brand choices among adult smokers. Regardless of intent, this marketing encourages underage youth to smoke. Nearly 9 out of 10 smokers start smoking by age 18, and more than 80% of underage smokers choose brands from among the top three most heavily advertised.
• The more young people are exposed to cigarette advertising and promotional activities, the more likely they are to smoke.
• The report finds that extensive use of price-reducing promotions has led to higher rates of tobacco use among young people than would have occurred in the absence of these promotions.
• Many tobacco products on the market appeal to youth. Some cigarette-sized cigars contain candy and fruit flavoring, such as strawberry and grape. 
• Many of the newest smokeless tobacco products do not require users to spit, and others dissolve like mints. These products include snus—a spitless dry snuff packaged in a small teabag-like sachet—and dissolvable strips and lozenges. Young people may find these products appealing in part because they can be used without detection at school or other places where smoking is banned. However, these products cause and sustain nicotine addiction, and many youth who use them also smoke cigarettes.
• Using advertising and promotional activities, packaging, and product design, the tobacco industry encourages the myth that smoking makes you thin. This message is especially appealing to young girls. It is not true—teen smokers are not thinner than nonsmokers.

The Value of Multicomponent Programs

Comprehensive, sustained, multicomponent programs can cut youth tobacco use in half in 6 years. To that end:

• Prevention is critical. Successful multicomponent programs prevent young people from starting to use tobacco in the first place and more than pay for themselves in lives and health care dollars saved.
• Strategies that comprise successful comprehensive tobacco control programs include mass media campaigns, higher tobacco prices, smoke-free laws and policies, evidence-based school programs, and sustained community-wide efforts.
• Comprehensive tobacco control programs are most effective when funding for them is sustained at levels recommended by CDC.

Three Key SGR Documents

Please refer to the following materials to obtain more information on preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults.

• Full ReportPreventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General   is a 900-page document that contains the latest science on the health consequences of tobacco use by young people; the epidemiology of tobacco use among youth and young adults; the social, environmental, cognitive, and genetic influences on the use of tobacco by young people; tobacco industry influences; and efforts to prevent tobacco use by youth and young adults. 

• Executive SummaryPreventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon (Executive Summary)  is a 24-page document that summarizes the major content of the report and highlights major conclusions from each of the report's five content chapters. 

• Consumer Friendly BookletPreventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: We CAN Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free is a 20-page, easy-to-read illustrated booklet that discusses the major content of the SGR in plain language. It is designed to help parents, teachers, policy makers, health care professionals, and other concerned adults understand the importance of the report and how they can take a stand to protect young people from the devastating effects of tobacco use.

Copies of these publications can be downloaded at www.cdc.gov/tobacco. To order copies, go towww.cdc.gov/tobacco and click on the Publications Catalog link.

Surgeon General's Video Contest: "Tobacco—I'm Not Buying It!"

In conjunction with this new SGR, CDC's Office on Smoking and Health has launched a video contest inviting youth ages 13-17 and young adults ages 18-25 to submit original videos featuring one or more of the key findings from the report.

Submissions will be reviewed for eligibility and then judged on the best use and depiction of key messages, recommendations contained in the report, and other criteria listed in the rules. CDC will award a $1,000 grand prize and three $500 runner-up prizes for each of the following categories (English and Spanish language submissions in both age-based groups) for a total of $10,000 in prizes. Video submission deadline is April 20, 2012. Visit Challenge.gov for a complete list of contest rules. Also visit the Surgeon General's Spotlight Facebook tab on CDC Tobacco Free.

Help to Quit

• For free information and help to quit tobacco use, visit www.smokefree.gov,http://women.smokefree.gov/ or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669; 
  TTY 1-800-332-8615). Also refer to the National Cancer Institute's new smoke-free teen initiative, teen.smokefree.gov.

Read more at cdc.gov.