“Most people know smoking is ‘bad for you’ and associate it with an elevated risk for lung cancer, but there are many more health benefits you'll reap when you choose to quit,” says Robert Adams, MD, a cardiothoracic surgeon with TriHealth Heart Institute.
"Once in your lungs (carbon monoxide) is transferred to your bloodstream," according to the American Heart Association. "Carbon monoxide decreases the amount of oxygen that is carried in the red blood cells. It also increases the amount of cholesterol that is deposited into the inner lining of the arteries which, over time, can cause the arteries to harden. This leads to heart disease, artery disease and possibly heart attack."
However, within 12 hours of your last cigarette, the carbon monoxide levels in your blood return to normal. Within a year, your risk of developing coronary heart disease will be 50 percent lower, according to the AHA. And by one year post-smoking, your risk of coronary heart disease will be the same as someone who has never smoked.
Using the cigarette cost calculator on smokefree.gov, you can estimate how much you spend on cigarettes by the day, month and year. On average, a smoker who pays $7 for one pack a day would spend more than $2,500 per year on cigarettes.
People who have been frequently exposed to secondhand smoke have a higher risk of lung cancer, heart disease and breathing problems, according to smokefree.gov. Pregnant mothers are more likely to have babies with low birth weight. Children are more likely to have lung infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, ear infection and sudden infant death syndrome.