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.

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.

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 average of 4.2 years, and their health conditions including heart attacks, strokes, and heart failure were recorded. Their smoking history, number of cigarettes per day and when they quit smoking were also recorded.

The study revealed the devastating impact of smoking on health. It was observed that people with 30 pack-years had double the risk of heart-related ailments in comparison to people who never smoked.

The study is a wake-up call

This study challenges the notion that the health improves immediately after quitting smoking. In fact, the body takes a lot of time to heal naturally after we quit. The study helps us understand the long-lasting impact of smoking and the amount of time it takes for the body to recover.

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