Quit Smoking Benefits - One Year Later

At One Year Smoke-Free:

Your excess risk of coronary heart disease is decreased to half that of a smoker after one year.

Cigarette smoking is directly linked to 30% of all heart disease deaths in the United States each year. It plays a part in coronary heart disease and causes damage by decreasing oxygen to the heart. Smoking increases blood pressure and heart rate, both of which are hard on the heart. Quitting tobacco is the absolute best thing you can do for your heart and for your health overall.

If you've put a year between you and the last cigarette you smoked, congratulations! Be grateful for the freedom you have created for yourself. Protect and nurture it. The benefits of the positive choices you've made will continue to grow as you move forward from here.

Here at About.com Smoking Cessation, we offer certificates (free) to commemorate your first year smoke free. They can be printed out and framed, or used as a wallpaper background for your computer. You've worked hard for your freedom! Select a certificate and we'll personalize it and send it out to you as a .jpg file.

One Year Smoke Free Milestone Certificate Gallery

Smoking affects who we are more than most of us realize. Quitting tobacco is similar to peeling back the layers of the onion to find the person you were meant to be before addiction stepped into your life. Read through some of the perspectives of those who have completed their first year smoke free:

One Year Milestones

Statistics tell us that only 7% of those who quit without support are still smoke free at the end of their first year. Fortify your cessation program with plenty of support from the forum here at Smoking Cessation.

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At Two years Smoke-Free:

Your chance of achieving long-term success with quitting tobacco increases significantly after two years.

Smoking Relapse Rates Drop Off Sharply After Two Years

If you're thinking about quitting smoking, there is no time like the present to get started. Change begins with a single first step. Stop just thinking about quitting, and start taking action. Throw the cigarettes away, and start your quit today.

Quit Smoking Benefits: 5 to 15 Years

<sub>Source:

2004 Surgeon General's Report: Poster: Within 20 Minutes of Quitting 27 May 2004. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</sub>