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How your body recovers when you quit smoking

February 21, 2013

Cigarettes contain at least 250 toxins. They harm the body, but shortly after you stop smoking, your body begins to recover. Twenty minutes after your last cigarette, blood pressure and pulse normalize. They’re raised during smoking because nicotine activates the sympathetic nervous system, putting the body in flight mode.

https://p.dw.com/p/17iXP

Two days after the last cigarette, the senses of smell and taste, which are impaired by smoking, begin to return. After three days, the bronchial tubes relax and breathing becomes easier. Three months after the last cigarette, circulation is improved. And after 10 years, the risk of heart attacks and lung cancer is nearly as low as in someone who has never smoked.