This week's artwork was donated by Aurelia, a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia . The risk of premature death due to cigarettes depends on the number of years of smoking, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, the age at which smoking began, and the absence or presence of existing disease or illness at the time of quitting.
Many factors contribute to the benefits of smoking cessation.
There are many physical benefits to quitting smoking. A person's pulse rate and blood pressure, which are abnormally high while smoking, begin to return to normal. Within a few days of quitting, a person's sense of taste and smell return, and breathing becomes increasingly easier. People who quit smoking live longer than those who continue to smoke. After 10 to 15 years, a previous smoker's risk of premature death approaches that of a person who has never smoked.