Stoptober 2019: An Insight on Smoking Statistics and it's Effects.

20 minutes after stopping smoking you could have saved enough to buy you a Cadbury’s Freddo (if you smoked 40 a day). Not only this, but your heart rate will drop and return to normal, along with your blood pressure, meaning your circulation will begin to improve.

8 hours after stopping smoking you could have saved enough money* to buy a Cappuccino, an Espresso, and a Fresh Filter Coffee from a popular world-wide coffee shop.

On top of all that coffee, your oxygen levels will be returning to normal, and carbon monoxide levels in your blood will have reduced by half.

*Based on 30 cigarettes a day

One of the many side effects of smoking is the yellowing of your fingernails; well, after a day away from smoking you will have saved enough to clean those nails up and have yourself a manicure. If you smoke 10 cigarettes a day then you will have saved enough to treat yourself to a new bottle of nail varnish. Those who smoke 40 a day will have saved enough to splurge on a whole new set of gelish nails, or perhaps a mani/pedi instead.

After a day of stopping smoking, your health will have improved too. Your risk of heart attack will begin to decrease as your blood pressure begins to drop, decreasing the risk of heart disease from smoking-induced high blood pressure. Also, your oxygen levels will rise, making physical activity and exercise easier for you.

2 days after your last cigarette your body will have flushed out all carbon monoxide. Your lungs will start to clear out mucus, and your sense of taste and smell will improve. Why not make the most of your renewed senses and spend the money you have saved on a nice meal out? With those who smoked 40 cigarettes a day saving £43.20, you could really treat yourself.

Within a year your breathing will feel easier and your coughing will have eased. Your circulation and lung function will improve as your lungs heal themselves and the cilia recover; this will also decrease your risk of lung infection. By the one year mark, your risk of heart attack will have halved.

On top of the wonders stopping smoking has done for your health, in one year you will also have saved between £1965 and £7862. This money could get you anything from a new Apple iMac to a 2-week all-inclusive holiday for 4 in a 5-star hotel in St Lucia.  Now that’s an incentive to stop smoking!

Within 5 years you will have reduced your risk of blood clots and strokes; you will also have saved over the amount that a 20-year-old working a full-time job on minimum wage would have earned in a year – just from binning the cigarettes (based on smoking 15 cigarettes per day)!

By 10 years without a cigarette, your risk of death from lung cancer will have halved, while your risk of developing throat, mouth, and pancreatic cancer has significantly reduced. You will have also saved enough money* to buy yourself a brand new Model 3 Tesla with a custom paint job and full self-driving capability. *Based on you smoking 30 cigarettes a day.

When you have been 20 years without a cigarette your risk of death from all smoking-related causes is reduced to that of a non-smoker! If that isn’t motivation enough then maybe consider the amount of money you will have saved; for a smoker of 40 cigarettes a day, in 20 years you will have saved enough money to buy outright a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, sea view flat in Scarborough (so no mortgage worries).