The Great American Smokeout of 2019 is November 22. This day is set aside to encourage Americans to finally put down the cigarettes. Need a few reasons why you should choose this year to quit smoking? Take a look at what happens to your body after you’ve had your last cigarette.

• 20 minutes after your last cigarette, blood pressure and pulse rates return to normal. The fibers that help move bacteria and irritants out of the lungs will also recover and resume working properly. 
• 8 hours after you quit, the amount of carbon monoxide in your body will decrease and oxygen levels will begin returning to normal.
• Just one day after your last cigarette, your chances of having a cardiac event drop significantly.
• By the second day, nerve endings that were damaged from smoking will regrow and your sense of smell and taste will become sharper. 
• After three days, your ability to breathe will be noticeably easier and your lung capacity will increase. 
• One month after quitting, you’ll feel better in a number of ways. Your energy will increase, sinus issues, congestion and shortness of breath will decrease, and you’ll start to notice a much better sense of overall health. 
• Over the next year, your response to stress will improve, you’ll stop coughing up phlegm and mucus, and if you start saving the money you used to spend on cigarettes when you quit, you’ll have a nice chunk of change at the one year mark. 
• In three years, your chances of a heart attack drop to that of a nonsmoker. After five years, your chances of dying from lung cancer is cut in half, and after a decade, your chances of developing heart or lung disease is comparable with a nonsmoker’s risks. Your risk for other cancers and diseases has also dropped to par with nonsmokers. 

Perhaps you already knew all the benefits of quitting smoking but just haven’t been able to quit successfully. Or maybe you’re a smoker who never realized how much better you’ll feel after you quit. No matter if you tried quitting before or if it’s your first time to kick the habit, quitting smoking is easier today than ever before. Between science-backed quit smoking apps for your phone, medicinal treatment like Chantix, and other tried-and-true methods like the patch and gum, we believe there’s a way out there to help you quit. Are you ready to take the plunge? Dial 662-348-3342 to learn how EliteCare can assist you in your fight today.