Stroke Risk Normalized
Your risk of stroke is now the same as someone who has never smoked.
What happens to your body 5 years after quitting smoking
Five years after quitting, your risk of stroke has dropped to the same level as someone who has never smoked. This is one of the most significant long-term milestones. Smoking increases stroke risk by damaging blood vessels, promoting blood clots, and causing plaque buildup in the arteries that supply blood to the brain. After 5 years of healing, these risks have been essentially eliminated. Your blood vessels have become more flexible and less prone to dangerous blockages.
Frequently asked questions
How does smoking cause strokes?
Smoking damages blood vessel walls, promotes atherosclerosis (plaque buildup), increases blood clotting, and raises blood pressure. All of these factors increase the risk of both ischemic strokes (caused by clots) and hemorrhagic strokes (caused by burst blood vessels).
Does it really take 5 years for stroke risk to normalize?
Research shows that stroke risk drops significantly in the first 2 years and continues declining. By 5 years, most studies show that ex-smokers have the same stroke risk as people who never smoked.