The health risks from the chemicals found in tobacco are enormous. The good news is that the health damage caused by tobacco is preventable and may be reversible. Within 20 minutes of quitting, the healing begins. By year 15, the person's risk of heart disease and early death is almost the same as that of people who have never smoked. In addition, an individual's risk of dying from chronic bronchitis or emphysema decreases as long as he or she remains smoke free.
Smoking cessation poses no risk to others.
In fact, it will reduce the amount of secondhand smoke that friends and family are exposed to. The first step in smoking cessation is setting up a Quit Plan. There are a number of methods for quitting smoking that address the addiction to nicotine. Going cold turkey, which means stopping smoking abruptly, is one method. Two other methods are non-nicotine medication and various forms of nicotine replacement therapy.