• Smoking can shorten your life span. Cancers of the lung, esophagus, mouth, and stomach have all been linked to smoking. Quitting smoking may decrease your chance of getting cancer.
• Smoking affects all parts of the body causing conditions like:
  • Heart disease
  • Stroke
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
  • Asthma
  • Hip fractures
  • Cataracts

Quitting will decrease your chances of getting these diseases.

You might be thinking, “Well, I’ve been smoking for years. So it’s too late for me to try and get healthy.”

It is not too late! No matter how long you have been smoking, you will have immediate health benefits by quitting:

• Your heart rate and blood pressure will return to normal. (Smokers tend to have high rates.)
• In a few hours after quitting, carbon monoxide levels start to decrease in your blood. (Carbon monoxide is bad because it prevents your blood from carrying oxygen to parts of your body.)
• In a few weeks after quitting, your blood circulation improves, and you will not cough or wheeze so much. You will also have less mucus.
• Several months after quitting, your lung function improves.
• You will also notice that your sense of smell and taste improves. Foods may actually taste better!

Breathing secondhand smoke is harmful. It can cause cancer in those who inhale it, even if they are nonsmokers. Secondhand smoke can also lead to breathing and heart problems and increase the risk of getting colds and flu.

Secondhand smoke can harm a pregnant woman:

• A pregnant woman may lose her baby (miscarriage).
• The baby may be born too small or die of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Secondhand smoke can harm babies and children. It increases their chances of having:

• Asthma
• Ear infections
• Pneumonia

• Makes them cranky, restless, and more likely to get sick
• Makes them more likely to have learning problems