OK, so you have enjoyed the pleasures of relaxation and well-being which cigarettes seem to provide for a good number of years. Your head says you should think about stopping smoking, but is it too late and has all the damage already been done?

Just about everyone admits that stopping smoking cigarettes is likely to be difficult, so is it worth the effort, particularly if it seems like it could be too late to save your health? In fact, this is almost never the case.

Let us look at just a few facts about what takes place in the body when you no longer continually ingest those noxious substances contained in your 'nicotine-fix'. First of all, within just a matter of hours after your last cigarette, your blood pressure will be reduced, as will your heart-rate. The benefits of lower blood pressure are well documented nowadays, so there is one benefit which happens almost immediately.

Add to this the fact that the level of carbon monoxide in your blood will be close to that of a non-smoker and we have a pretty quick double-whammy! What an exellent start to your new non-smoking lifestyle.

In case that does not give you enough encouragement, you would only have to wait a matter of a few weeks for marked improvements in your blood circulation system. Even if this is not enough for you to feel any better, unless you are a complete couch-potato, the increased efficiency of your lung function will almost certainly be noticeable.

This ability to do more without becoming breathless can be a motivator all on its own for some people. Along with a marked decrease in coughing and reduced risk of infection, comfort levels can persuade most of us that there would be little to be gained and much to be lost, by taking up the habit again.

Now I will outline a couple of the longer term benefits, which should help reinforce the wisdom of no longer smoking. Just a year as a non-smoker will have reduced the risk of heart disease to half that of the smoker. As time goes on, the chance of a stroke also reduces dramatically, so the prospect of a longer healthier life is so much more likely. Just how much more do you need to convince you?

The above list does not by any means include all the benefits to health of stopping smoking cigarettes, but I believe that there are enough there to merit giving it serious consideration.

Why not check out what help and guidance is available and search out the way to stop smoking which suits you best?