A 60-year-old smoker generally will have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker.
It is no longer a debate: smoking kills, exposing us to a multitude of fatal diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular or pulmonary diseases. “”Most smokers are aware that smoking can shorten their lives, but not the impact of each smoked cigarette“, point out researchers from the University College of London in a recent study commissioned by the Ministry of Health of the United Kingdom.
The damage caused by smoking is cumulative and the earlier the person stops smoking, the longer it lives. “”To quit smoking at any age is beneficial, but the sooner the smokers will move away from this escalator who leads to death, the more they can hope to live for a long time and in good health“, insist the researchers. Concretely, a person smoking 10 cigarettes per day who stops smoking on January 1 avoids losing a whole day of life by January 8, a week of life by February 20 and a month of life by August 5. In a year, she will have avoided losing 50 days of life.
“”Some might think that they have no problem losing a few years of life, since old age is often marked by chronic diseases or disabilities. But smoking does not shorten the period of poor health of the end of life“, Indicates Dr. Sarah Jackson, principal researcher. Smoking is mainly encroaching on the relatively healthy intermediate years of quarantine rather than in the years of end of life, thus advancing the beginning of poor health. This means that a 60-year-old smoker will generally have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker. The researchers have also estimated that each cigarette runs the lifetime ( A reduced life expectancy of 10 years) and 22 minutes for a woman (i.e. a reduced life expectancy of 11 years).These are the best estimates available in the world“Can we read in their study.
These are of course averages: some smokers live for a long time and in good health, while others succumb to diseases related to smoking and die before 40 years. This variation is due to differences in smoking habits (number of puffs, inhalation depth …), the type of smoked cigarette (rolled …) and to individual sensitivity to the toxic substances of cigarette smoke. The age of start can also play a role, people who are starting to smoke at a younger age are potentially more vulnerable to smoking diseases.
