2024-02-13 07:53:46
A study of 1.5 million adults reveals that ten years after giving up conventional smoking, life expectancy is close to that of those who have never smoked.
Quitting conventional tobacco smoking at any age brings rapid benefits on mortality. Only 3 years later, 6 years of life expectancy is recovered. A few years are enough for people who quit smoking to obtain significant improvements in their life expectancy, according to researchers at the University of Toronto (Canada).
His work, published in NEJM Records, shows that smokers who quit before turning 40 can live as long as those who never smoked. Ten years after stopping smoking combustion tobacco at any age, life expectancy approaches that of people who have never smoked in their lives, and approximately half of that benefit occurs in just three years.
The observational study included 1.5 million adults from four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Norway), who were followed for 15 years. Smokers aged 40 to 79 had almost three times the risk of dying compared to those who never smoked, meaning that, on average, they lost between 12 and 13 years of life.
AT ANY AGE
Ex-smokers reduced their risk of death by 1.3 times (30% more) compared to never smokers. Quitting smoking at any age was associated with longer survival, and even those who quit smoking less than three years earlier increased their life expectancy by up to six years.
“Quitting smoking is ridiculously effective at reducing the risk of death, and people can reap those benefits remarkably quickly,” says Prabhat Jha, a professor at the University of Toronto and director of the Center for Global Health Research at the Unity hospital network. HealthToronto.
“Many people think that it is too late to stop smoking, especially in middle age,” the researcher acknowledges. “These results contradict that line of thinking. It is never too late, the impact is rapid and the risk of major diseases can be reduced, meaning a longer and better quality of life.
Researchers found that quitting conventional cigarettes especially reduced the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and cancer; also due to respiratory diseases, although in a smaller proportion, probably due to residual lung damage.
1,000 MILLION SMOKERS
There are currently around 60 million smokers in the four countries participating in the study, and more than one billion worldwide. The global smoking rate has decreased by more than 25% since 1990, but combusted tobacco, unlike heated tobacco, remains a leading cause of preventable death.
These findings should prompt governments to take urgent action against smoking: “Helping smokers to quit is one of the most effective ways to substantially improve health. And we know how to do it, by increasing taxes on cigarettes and improving smoking cessation aids.” Writing
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