Smoking and Surgery

We know you know that there seems to be a billion and one reasons to quit smoking. But let’s make it a billion and two. Did you know that quitting smoking greatly reduces the risk of many surgical complications?

When you smoke, you increase the amount of carbon monoxide in your blood and lower the amount of oxygen. The lower the amount of oxygen in your blood, the greater your chances are for a heart attack health diagnosis. Plus, smoking can slow your surgery recovery process. It also puts you at risk for infections and lung problems.

Wagner says the longer you can quit before surgery the better, but even if you just stop smoking the morning of the procedure, your risks go down because carbon monoxide and nicotine only stay in the body for eight to 12 hours. Remember that 1-800-QUIT-NOW offers free counseling and support to anyone trying to quit smoking.

Have you recently undergone surgery or do you have one coming up? How has it affected your motivation to stop smoking? [KENS-TV]