fixaging

There have been many different studies which have identified that smoking reduces life expectancy. One particular 50 year study revealed that smoking cuts life expectancy by 10 years. Smoking-related deaths are more likely to be by cancer, and around 88% of deaths from lung cancer are from smoking. At least 50% of smokers will eventually be killed by their habit.

However even if you are still a smoker some of these lost years can be regained by quitting. From the 50 year study it was found:

• Men who quit at 30 died at the same age as non-smokers
• Men who quit at 40 died 1 year earlier than non-smokers
• Men who quit at 50 died 4 years earlier than non-smokers
• Men who quit at 50 died 7 years earlier than non-smokers

Reduced quality of life

Reduced life expectancy is not the only bad feature of smoking though, it also has a negative impact on quality of life, as smoking is associated with a variety of chronic conditions including bronchitis, asthma and high blood pressure. A study in Canada identified that non-smokers lived a significant extra portion of their life disability free. For example, a smoker aged 45 could expect to live another 18 years without some form of disability, while a non-smoker could expect to live another 25 years without a disability.

Effect of number of cigarettes smoked

The following table from the 50 year studies shows the difference the number of cigarettes smoked makes. (Unfortunately as of writing this the table does not display very well, to get it to display properly select the table and copy and paste it into word) In this table cigarettes smokers are grouped into smokers consuming 1-14, 15-24 and >24. The total death rate per year per thousand people for each group was as follows: 29.34(1-14), 34.79(15-24), 45.34(>24). This shows that the more cigarettes smoked the worse the death rate is per year.

Tags: Life expectancy //