What are the Benefits?

Within 20 minutes after you smoke that last cigarette, your body begins a series of changes that continue for years.

• 20 Minutes After Quitting
  Your heart rate drops.
• 12 hours After Quitting
  Carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
• 2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting
  Your heart attack risk begins to drop.
  Your lung function begins to improve.
• 1 to 9 Months After Quitting
  Your coughing and shortness of breath decrease.
• 1 Year After Quitting
  Your added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker’s.
• 5 Years After Quitting
  Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker’s 5-15 years after quitting.
• 10 Years After Quitting
  Your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker’s.
  Your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decrease.
• 15 Years After Quitting
  Your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a nonsmoker’s.
  Source: CDC Poster, Within 20 Minutes of Quitting

How To Start Stopping

NIH federal employees have access to the following resources:

• Federal Occupational Health Services (FOHS) Tobacco Use Cessation Program provides free tobacco cessation treatment services to DHHS smokers and other tobacco users who wish to quit through local clinics run by FOHS. The program is available at no cost to employees if their current health insurance plan does not cover over-the-counter treatment options for tobacco addiction. For more information, call 206-615-2546 or visit http://intranet.hhs.gov/tobacco/. To set up a TTY call, e-mail Louis Glass at LGlass@psc.gov.

  Note: To learn whether your health insurance provider covers treatment for tobacco addiction, click here.

All NIH employees, including contractors, have access to the following resources:

• National Network of Quitlines provides support and resources, available at 1-800-QUITNOW, TTY 1-800-332-8615
• Smokefree.gov provides guides to preparing to quit, quitting, and "staying quit"
• NIH Work & Family Life Center provides information on local smoking cessation programs and resources. For more information, call 301-435-1619, TTY 301-480-0690.

Additional Information

• Breath of Fresh Air: http://www.4woman.gov/QuitSmoking/index.cfm
• How to Quit: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/how2quit.htm
• Refresh Yourself! Stop Smoking: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/chdblack/refresh1.htm
• Quit to Live: Learn to Quit Smoking Today: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/news/QuitSmoking.htm
• Tobacco Cessation - You Can Quit Smoking Now!": http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/
• 5-Day Plan to Quit Smoking: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/5daybook.pdf