Quitting Smoking A Big Boon For Women
Posted May 12, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new study out of McGill University outlined the gender specific positives to butting out and the research found that five years after quitting, women have about a 20 percent lower risk of death from smoking-related cancers.
They also greatly reduce their risk of dying from coronary heart disease with an estimated 61 per cent drop in heart attacks.
It’s all great news for Anna Prezament, who was told she had to quit by a doctor treating her for pneumonia almost two years ago. “I was scared out of my mind and it was a horrible feeling not to be able to breathe,” she recalls. “The next morning I discharged myself, threw away cigarettes and have not looked back since.”
And the benefits go up the longer you’re smoke-free. For example, it takes just 12 hours for the level of poisonous carbon monoxide to drop to normal levels. Three months after quitting circulation and breathing should improve. And women who don’t light up for 20 years have the equivalent risk of heart disease of a non-smoker. Prezament says she’s beginning to understand what that’s all about.
“I feel clean and I am healthier all the way around,” she boasts. “It’s been a total life-altering change.”
It’s not clear exactly how the findings would apply to men.
For a specific timeline of other health benefits, click here.
In 2000, approximately 5 million premature deaths were attributable to smoking worldwide.
By 2030, the World Health Organization projects that tobacco-attributable deaths will double: 3 million could die in industrialized countries and 7 million could die in developing countries.
You can check out the full report here.
For ways that your doctor can help, click here.
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Genetic Link Found To Smoking Addiction And Lung Cancer
Province Moves To Ban Smoking In Cars With Kids
