Healthsifter by mary desmond pinkowish, since 2003

GRAPHIC Antismoking Labels Proposed

The FDA is looking for public comments on some new warnings, including intensely graphic illustrations, that they propose putting on cigarette packs. In one scenario, the gross photo and warning takes up the entire top half of the package. Read more about this at the FDA Web site. Check out the graphics--what do you think? See even more of the proposed graphics at Gawker. And quit smoking!

The Minute-By-Minute Benefits of Quitting Smoking

If you smoke, you know you should stop. No lectures. Maybe you haven't put the effort in because you think it takes years to get healthy after you quit. Wrong. The American Cancer Society has developed a timeline that shows how quickly your health begins to turn around after you smoke your last....would you believe 20 minutes? Check it out: 

20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops.

12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hairlike structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

1 year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

5 years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.

10 years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a person who continues smoking. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decrease, too.

15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is the same as a non-smoker's.

Read more about the many, many tools and sources of help that are available to you.