Final answer:
Smoking cessation leads to improved lung function after 2-4 weeks. Quitting smoking has numerous immediate and long-term health benefits, including a reduced risk of heart disease and cancer.
Step-by-step explanation:
Smoking cessation leads to improved lung function after c. 2-4 weeks. This is because when a person stops smoking, their lungs begin to heal from the damage caused by the smoke and the chemicals in cigarettes. Lung function improvement is one of the many benefits of quitting smoking. For example, within just 24 hours of quitting, the risk of a heart attack begins to decrease, and after around 2-12 weeks, circulation and lung function improve. By one year after quitting, the risk of heart disease drops to only half that of a continuing smoker.
Risks from smoking are numerous, including various types of cancer, with lung cancer being particularly notable due to the strong link between smoking and the incidence of this disease. It is established that smoking can damage every part of the body and that the risk of dying from lung cancer before age 85 is more than 20 times higher for male smokers than for male non-smokers. While the effects of smoking on lung cancer deaths can take up to 20 years to manifest, the benefits of quitting can begin virtually immediately and continue to improve health over time.