Almost the moment you quit smoking, your body starts feeling better.

After 20 minutes, your heart rate drops.

After 12 hours, almost all the nicotine in your body has been broken down.

After 24 hours, the level of carbon monoxide in your blood drops dramatically.

Within five days, most by-products from nicotine have gone, and your sense of taste and smell improves.

After three months, your lungs improve.

After a year, your risk of heart disease is half that of someone who’s still smoking.

After 10 years, your risk of lung cancer is less than half of someone who continues to smoke.

And after 15 years of not smoking, your risk of heart attack and stroke is almost the same as a person who has never smoked.

When you stop smoking, you reduce your risk of getting cancers of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas. Plus your body starts working better, because your immune system gets stronger and helps your body fight infection and disease.

There are some diseases that are irreversible – like emphysema, which destroys air sacs in your lungs. Once you’ve got it, you can’t get rid of it – but if you stop smoking in time, you can avoid it.

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