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Effects of smoking cessation on health

  • Page | Last updated: 07 Sep 2026
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Effects of smoking cessation on health

General/multiple health

  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that smoking cessation improves well-being, including higher quality of life and improved health status; and that it reduces mortality and increases the lifespan.'

Cardiovascular disease

  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that smoking cessation: reduces levels of markers of inflammation and hypercoagulability and leads to rapid improvement in the level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; leads to a reduction in the development of subclinical atherosclerosis, and that progression slows as time since cessation lengthens; reduces the risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.'
  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that the relative risk of coronary heart disease among former smokers compared with never smokers falls rapidly after cessation and then declines more slowly.'
  • 'In patients who are current smokers when diagnosed with coronary heart disease, the evidence is sufficient to infer a causal relationship between smoking cessation and: a reduction in all-cause mortality, reductions in deaths due to cardiac causes and sudden death; and reduced risk of new and recurrent cardiac events.'
  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that smoking cessation reduces the risk of stroke morbidity and mortality.'
  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that, after smoking cessation, the risk of stroke approaches that of never smokers.'

Cancer

  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that smoking cessation reduces the risk of lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, cancers of the oral cavity and pharynx, esophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, acute myeloid leukemia.'
  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that the relative risk of lung cancer decreases steadily after smoking cessation compared with the risk for persons continuing to smoke, with risk decreasing to half that of continuing smokers approximately 10–15 years after smoking cessation and decreasing further with continued cessation.'

Reproductive and sexual conditions

  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that smoking cessation by pregnant women benefits their health and that of their fetuses and newborns.'
  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that women who quit smoking before or during pregnancy gain more weight during gestation than those who continue to smoke.’
  • 'The evidence is sufficient to infer that smoking cessation during pregnancy reduces the effects of smoking on fetal growth and that quitting smoking early in pregnancy eliminates the adverse effects of smoking on fetal growth.'

Mental health

  • 'Smoking cessation is associated with reduced depression, anxiety, and stress and improved positive mood and quality of life compared with continuing to smoke. The effect size seems as large for those with psychiatric disorders as those without. The effect sizes are equal or larger than those of antidepressant treatment for mood and anxiety disorders.'

 

More information and links
Originally Published | Last Updated

12 Mar 2021 | 07 Sep 2026

Knowledge service | MetadataHealth Promotion and Disease Prevention | Risk factors of non-communicable diseases | Tobacco and smoking
Digital Europa Thesaurus (DET)health policy
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