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If you quit smoking today, your body will start thanking you tomorrow. Well, actually it will start to thank you after 20 minutes. Thats the time it takes, before you begin to heal.

20 minutes after your last cigarette, your blood pressure decreases, your pulse rate drops, and your body temperature of your hands and feet increases. 8 hours later your carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal while oxygen level in blood increases to normal.

After 24 hours the risk of a heart attack has decreased. And after 48 hours the nerve endings start to growth again. The smell- and tasting ability will also be improved. 72 hours from now your breathing will be easier.

The following weeks and month your will improve your circulation. Walking will be easier and your lung function will increase. The nicotine withdrawal symptom will subside after the first month, so you will be able to focus on the psychological need for a cigarette.

One year from now, your risk of coronary heart disease will only be the half as today. This is a very important thing, because in the United States smoking is directly linked to 30 % of all heart disease deaths.

The long-term benefits do it also make it worth quitting the cigarettes. After 5 years the stroke risk is reduced to the same as people who have never smoked. And after 10 years the risk of lung cancer drops to as little as one-half that of continuing smokers. The risk of other types of cancer like mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas also decreases.

The risk of coronary heart disease will be the same of people who have never smoked after 15 years. And in many other ways will the risk of death be at nearly the same level of people who have never smoked.

So if you stop smoking today, your will be rewarded with an improved health. But it is also important to remember that healing from nicotine addiction is an ongoing process. While some improvements happen quickly, others will come more gradually.

Martin Elmer is the editor of Rygestop dag for dag. Here you can also read about Roegfri.

Three Arizona Charter schools have been fined by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for violations regarding the ‘AHERA’, the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act. The Act is in place to regulate, inspect, catalogue and handle asbestos in all US schools.

The 1986 Act highlights 8 main precautions that must be taken to protect students and staff from exposure to the lethal material. These steps include training maintenance staff on asbestos awareness and handling, conducting a six month periodic survey of asbestos sources, creating an asbestos management plan that is accessible to all staff and parents, ensure ongoing documentation of all asbestos related activity.

The use of asbestos is outlawed so these rules exist to ensure that any pre-existing material is monitored by trained professionals and to make sure it isn’t damaged by renovations or age. The EPA considers asbestos safe as long as it is in tact but once broken or exposed, it releases microscopic fibres which can lead to several forms of unique yet fatal cancer.

The most lethal asbestos related disease is Mesothelioma, a form of cancer that breaks down the protective linings surrounding the lungs, heart and organs. It generally lies dormant for up to five decades, making it notoriously difficult to monitor or catch at an early stage. Once it is acknowledged, the sufferer usually only has a year to live.

The schools in Arizona were guilty of failing to conduct initial inspections or developing an asbestos management plan. As well as these schools there were five others that broke similar regulations but were lucky enough to be found to not contain any asbestos.

The EPA fined the schools almost $30,000 and they are now all in compliance with AHERA regulations. One of the worst offenders, Cave Creek High School in Phoenix, was fined for failure of ongoing inspections after it documented 12,580 square feet of asbestos-containing building material on its premises.

Following the publication of these breach of regulations, many of the students have undergone health checks to make sure they were not affected by any exposure, if so they could be eligible for a mesothelioma claim as long as they hire a decent asbestos lawyer.