It’s never too late to quit

I recently had a 65-year-old patient look at me incredulously as I suggested that he should quit smoking.  “I’ve been smoking for 50 years,” he replied indignantly.  “Stopping now won’t help anything.  I’m too old for it to do me any good.”

This interaction made me think of a slide I have in one the presentations I give on how to live a heart-healthy lifestyle.  It is a timeline, produced by the American Cancer Society, that details how quickly various health benefits accrue once a smoker finally kicks the habit.  The information is based on numerous scientific studies that evaluate how quickly (or slowly) the human body heals after a person stops bombarding the lungs with toxic carcinogens and pollutants.
Let’s say you smoke a pack of cigarettes a day (this seems to be roughly what I hear from most active smokers) and that you’ve been doing it for many years.  What would happen to you if were to quit today?  How long would it take before your body starts to reap the benefits from your burst of self-mastery?
8 a.m. Monday, May 30 – You’re finally tired of the cost, stench and inconvenience of smoking in today’s environment.  Your family has harassed you enough and you decide to toss the carton and retire the lighter.  You take a final drag and commit yourself to a life of abstinence.