Quitting Smoking: The Long-Term Benefits

Quitting smoking is extremely hard. If it weren’t, there wouldn’t be as many of us addicted to cigarettes and the nicotine inside them. But freeing yourself of a stinky, unhealthy, and downright expensive habit reaps many rewards over time. Read on to see just how many ways your life improves when you quit smoking.

6 Months, You’ll Look Younger

Smoking speeds up the aging process. According to the Mayo Clinic, the more than 4,000 chemicals within cigarettes cause damage to the tissue elements that keep your skin looking youthful — collagen and elastin. The nicotine also constricts blood flow to your face, preventing nutrients (and oxygen) from keeping your skin healthy.

Fortunately, when you quit smoking, your skin rebounds along with your overall health. A team of dermatologists, nutritionists, and psychologists in Italy tracked over 60 women who had quit smoking for nine months. They checked for signs of skin aging, such as brightness, elasticity, and texture, and used a program to determine a “biological skin age.” Within just six months, they found statistically significant results, and by the end of the study, the women’s skin showed an average age reduction of about 13 years.

In 9 Months, You’ll Breathe Easier

The chemicals in cigarettes damage small hair-like structures called cilia, which help to remove mucus from your lungs. This can lead to coughing and shortness of breath, according to the American Cancer Society.

Fortunately, within just a few months of quitting — sometimes even just one month — your lungs begin to regain normal function, going back to normal within nine months.

In 1 Year, Your Heart Disease Risk Drops by 50 Percent

Quit Now, Save Face!

It takes about 10 years of smoking for you to see any substantial cigarette-assisted aging on your face, so if you’ve only been smoking a few years, you’re in an especially good place to quit.

Within a year of quitting, your risk of suffering from heart disease drops by half, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Further, your risk of dying from heart disease drops by a third when you quit. Smoking is a known risk factor for heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, and other adverse cardiovascular events and problems. Quitting smoking reduces these risks substantially.

Eventually, these risks could drop to levels of a person who’s never smoked in their life. In a 2013 study, researchers found that the rates of heart attack and death were twice as high in smokers than they were in both never-smokers and people who had quit smoking. Some smoking damage, though, such as blocked arteries, was not undone by quitting.

In 5 Years, Your Cancer Risk Drops by 50 Percent

As you probably know, smoking is a risk factor for several types of cancer, including lung cancer. But when you quit, those risks begin to drop.

According to the American Cancer Society, the risk of mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder cancer are cut in half just five years after quitting. A woman’s risk of developing cervical cancer falls to that of a nonsmoker’s after the first 5 years as well.

Ten years after quitting, your risk of succumbing to lung cancer also drops by 50 percent, and your risks of developing larynx and pancreatic cancers drop too.

In 10 Years, Your Teeth Are as Healthy as a Nonsmoker’s

Who Smokes

People between 25 and 44, especially men, are most likely to smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And of the millions who do, more than 76 percent smoke every single day.

Smoking doesn’t only make your breath stink. It stains your teeth and increases your risk for oral cancer and gum disease. Smoking also contributes to tooth decay by cutting your production of saliva, which helps to keep your teeth clean. This leaves you open to cavities and even tooth loss.

Quitting can slow and even reverse some of this damage. One study found that, within 10 to 20 years, people who stopped smoking had the same risks for tooth loss as someone who had never touched a cigarette.

Bonus: You Keep Smoke Out of Other People’s Lungs

You aren’t the only one harmed by your smoking. Secondhand smoke harms everyone around you, and some research has shown that children who are exposed to secondhand smoke have higher risks of cavities and oral health problems. Removing this pollutant from the lives of your family, friends, and co-workers can have lasting benefits for you all.

Quitting smoking has immediate and long-term benefits. But you can’t reap them until you put the cigarettes down. Do it for yourself or do it for your family, but take the first step and just do it.

This Article originally appeared on Healthline.com