Today is the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout, an annual event that has been held for the last three decades. with the aim of encouraging smokers to quit by providing information, support, and resources.

An ex-smoker myself, I know how very, very difficult it is to give it up. But I also know the up side of giving up the smokes and I’d encourage anyone who has been thinking about giving up cigarrettes to stop thinking and act.  You’ll thank yourself in the end.

Healthbolt already has a fairly active support system going on at the comment section of a post - What Happens to Your body if you stop smoking Right now? - that was written by the Wade Meredith, the original Healthbolter. 

Here’s the highlights of that post…

• In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
• In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
• In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
• In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
• In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
• In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
• In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
• In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
• In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
• In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.

Click here for a high-quality Graphic representation of this chart.

Does it help you make the decision to stop any easier ?

I sure hope so.  

If it does, head over to the Great American Smokeout for support and advice and have a look at.  And check out these 5 Smoking Gadgets That Might Help You Quit Smoking.

Good Luck…

Click for full resolution. I have two cats and a bladder. I love to sleep. These three things do not, er, harmonize well.

(Click for high-res)
On July 19th, 2006, I published a post called “What happens to Your Body if You Stop Smoking Right Now?” It received 1/4 million hits within 24 hours, and a handful of comments. Since that date it has gained a life of it’s own, as it accumulates millions of views as well as pages and pages of responses from readers. With people either detailing their own successes/failures to put down the puff, or offering advice for those of us wanting to do the same, the comments section has turned into an impromptu support group, and forum for, discussing nicotine addiction.

I’m now pleased to offer this 18″X24″ graphic representation of the post, and the conversation it inspired. It includes the time line, detailing the physiological changes your body starts to experience the moment you stop smoking. The graphic in the center is made up of some of (they wouldn’t all fit) the reader comments on the article. I am selling a high-quality print. I’m also offering a free, print-quality, zipped .pdf file for download for the next 30 days.

Each poster is printed on 18″x24″ heavy semi-gloss paper using a roll-fed Xeikon 5000 with LED array-based dry toner electrophotography at 600 DPI with variable dot density (4 bit). This provides for exceptional print quality and much more reliable colorfastness than traditional offset printing.

Shipping is free within North America; allow two-weeks for delivery. If you’d like to receive these elsewhere in the world, or if you work for a university or other institution, and want a larger bulk discount (50 or more), please contact me here.

Free print-quality .pdf - 18mb download; unzips to 54mb .pdf (This link will work for 30 Days)
This work is published under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License.