Just 30 minutes after you quit smoking, your heart rate slows down. Your blood pressure also begins to return to normal.

After just a few hours, the percentage of of carbon monoxide in your blood drops, allowing your blood to carry more oxygen to all parts of your body.

Within 24 hours your risk of heart attack starts to fall.

48 hours after you quit, taste buds and olefactory nerve endings start to return to normal, allowing you to regain your sense of smell and taste.

72 hours after quitting, the bronchial tubes in your lungs begin to expand and your lungs can take in a larger volume of air.

2 weeks after you quit smoking, your blood circulation has improved.

1 month after quitting, your lungs are clearing themselves out, so you cough less, breath better and have more energy.

1 year after you quit, you have reduced your risk of heart disease by half.

2 to 3 years after you quit, your smoking-related heart attack risk is almost zero.

5 years after becoming a non-smoker, your risk of contracting lung cancer as well as oral cancer is now half what it was when you were smoking.

10 years after you quit smoking, your risk of getting cancer is nearly equal that of nonsmokers.

15 years after you quit, your risk of getting heart disease is the same as it would be if you never smoked.

Source: American Cancer Society and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention