While the body heals naturally after you quit smoking, smoking degrades overall health and affects the heart. However, once you quit smoking, and get over the cold turkey, the body still takes a long time to heal completely. In a recent study led by Seung Yong Shin, MD, PhD, Korea University Ansan Hospital, 5.
3 million people in South Korea were studied to understand how long the heart takes to heal after a person stops smoking. The research addresses the notion that not all smoking histories are created equal. People take their individual time to heal after quitting.
For some, it can take years, while for others, it can take decades. ALSO READ: Kicking the habit of smoking: Exploring safer alternatives for tobacco cessation in India The study focuses on the pack-years of smoking. A pack year is calculated by the number of packs of cigarette smoked by a person multiplied by the number of years smoked.
The study observed that for light smokers who did not reach the eight pack-years threshold, their heart health developed to that of a non-smoker in five to ten years of quitting. However, for non-smokers, their heart health risk can match to that of a non-smoker in about 25 years after quitting. ALSO READ: How do I quit smoking? Results of the study The research was conducted with a comprehensive analysis of the health records of 5,391,231 people in South Korea, consisting of predominantly male population with an average age of 45.
8 years. These participants were tracked for an .
