What happens when people quit smoking? Will they still run the risk of getting cancer, or will they get better if they stop?

Dear Dr. Cory:

What happens when people quit smoking? Will they still run the risk of getting cancer, or will they get better if they stop?

Laura Jones

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Dear Laura:

It really does help for a person to stop smoking. The body can begin to heal itself just minutes after a cigarette is smoked. Here's what happens:

* After twenty minutes, a person's pulse and blood pressure return to normal.

* In about eight hours, the blood's carbon monoxide level drops and its oxygen level increases.

* After two days, the body's nerve endings start to repair themselves. The ex-smoker's senses of taste and smell improve.

* Between one to nine months later, the lungs almost will have cleaned themselves. The person now should have more energy and lung capacity.

* After ten to fifteen years, many of the damaged cells in the lungs should be gone. The former smoker's chance of getting cancer is almost now no greater than that of someone who has never smoked.

Unfortunately, all these benefits are wiped out with just one cigarette a day! That's why it's so important never to smoke. If you know someone who smokes, encourage him or her to stop. You could be saving that person's life.