Quit Smoking Timeline – Why Use It?

Creating a quit smoking timeline is probably one of the most effective ways to know how far have you gone since you last ceased smoking. Looking at your quit smoking timeline can be very rewarding, especially when you have realized you have survived yet another day without popping a cigarette in your mouth.

Benefits of a Quit Smoking Timeline

With a quit smoking timeline, what’s important is not how many years since you’ve started smoking but the fact that you are ready to quit NOW. If you succeed in following your timeline, you can get back in track and avoid a lot of health risks in the future. In fact, experts say that with a quit smoking timeline, a smoker can achieve a health condition similar to a non-smoker.

Tracking how far you have come in the quitting process with a quit smoking timeline is one of the most beneficial advantage of using one. Progress is more apparent compared to battling against cigarette smoking without a tracking chart.

 Studies Conducted with a Quit Smoking Timeline

The Journal of American Medical Association was published on 2008, studying more than a hundred thousand female American nurses since 1976. This has been one of those smoking related studies with the biggest number of subjects in the US. The subjects were all adults with an age range of 30-55 years old. The study compared 3 types of subjects being the non-smokers (those who have never smoked eversince), the quitters (those for formerly smoked but has already stopped), and the smokers.

From this journal, the AMA was able to come up with several confirmative results:

• In a period of five years within the timeline, it was evident that majority of those who already quit smoking were observed to have a significant change in their health.
• Those who weren’t able to use a quit smoking timeline and continued smoking had increased risk of dying from diseases such as stroke, coronary heart disease (CHD), and lung cancer 20 times greater than those who never smoked.
• Quitters may still be at risk of smoking-related diseases but not as much as those who never quit. The same report shows that former smokers are at risk to acquire those diseases 5 times more than a non smoker.
• A quit smoking timeline can be very helpful in achieving a long-term benefit once you quit smoking.

A Brief Look Into a Patient Who Has Followed His Quit Smoking Timeline in:

5 years time…

Long term benefits of quitting smoking are usually observable in five years time. This is when most patients are beginning to gain the weight they lost when they used to smoke. Appetite is one of the most important things you’ll regain once you quit smoking – this is important because without the desire to eat, a quitter’s body will not be able to recover the needed energy and nutrients to adjust to the process of quitting smoking. In 5 years in the timeline, your risk for stroke will be the same as those who never puff a cigarette. It is because at this time, your blood circulation has finally increased and your heart condition is significantly better. The risks for any heart diseases such as myocardial infarction, arrhythmias and coronary heart disease also reduces. At this point, if the patient is willing, the fear of cigarette craving must already be non-existent and mental function (including mood swings and restless behavior) is significantly better.

Quit smoking side effects are normally seen in those who has started quitting smoking. Most of these symptoms are due to withdrawal syndromes. As expected, the most common symptom found in more than 70% of patients who have gotten into a quit smoking timeline is their cravings for a cigarette. Others who are also under a quit smoking timeline may experience symptoms like inattentiveness, restlessness and slight depression – all of which are considered normal unless it’s already disrupting their activities of daily living. Those who are addicted to smoking may find it hard to sleep and maintain their cool while under a timeline, contributing to their difficulty to quit smoking.

10 years time…

If there is continued effort and commitment to cease smoking, a patient may actually reach 10 years into the timeline. At this point of the timeline, your body is recovering most of the health you lost through smoking. By doing so, this patient has drastically reduced his chance of developing pancreatic cancer and basically a lot of cancer types in comparison to those who continually smoked. Cancer is the disease that is most threatening to smokers. With dedication to your quit smoking timeline, your chances of acquiring cancer is lowered to a percentage almost the same as a nonsmoker.

15 years time…

Even as the years go by, there is still a chance that quitter still retains the cravings to smoke. Some of the patients were observed to still succumb to their nicotine withdrawal tendencies and still experiences the side effects of quitting smoking. Fifteen years from the start of their timeline, a patient is likely to reduce his risk for heart diseases to a percentage similar to those who never smoked. Diseases you can avoid at this time includes heart attacks, stoke, coronary heart disease, etc. Your risk of dying also drastically lowered to a level almost the same as those who never smoked.

20 years time…

At this point, you are considered almost as healthy as a normal person who never smoked all his life. This means that your risk to developing smoking-caused diseases are quite unlikely compared to those who continually smoked 20 years later. Women, in general, gain added benefits at this stage as their over-all health is considered to a woman who has never smoked all her life.

We all know that cigarette smoking causes harm not just to those who lit cigarettes but also to those who don’t. Second hand smoking causes symptoms almost similar to those who smoke. As a member of your family, you should know that if you smoke, your health is not the only one affected. Most likely, you are also compromising the health of your partner and children. Start using a quit smoking timeline today.

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