There Is No Age Too Late to Quit Smoking... Quitting for Just 3 Years Can Extend Lifespan by 6 Years

Research Team: "Quitting Smoking Is Highly Effective Regardless of Age"
Life Expectancy Significantly Increases Within a Few Years After Quitting Smoking

A study has found that quitting smoking at any age leads to rapid health benefits.

Medical Express reported on the 10th (local time) the research results of Professor Pravat Jiha and his team at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada. The study was published in the monthly online edition of the American medical journal NEJM Evidence (New England Journal of Medicine Evidence).

The research team conducted an average 15-year follow-up study on data from studies conducted between 1974 and 2018 involving 1.5 million adults (aged 20?79) from four countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Norway. Among them, 122,697 deaths were recorded.

Analysis showed that, after adjusting for other variables such as age, alcohol consumption, and obesity, the risk of death for people who continue to smoke was more than 2.5 times higher than for those who have never smoked. By gender, the risk was 2.8 times higher for women and 2.7 times higher for men. Smokers aged 40 to 79 had about three times the risk of death compared to non-smokers.

People who quit smoking had a 30% higher risk of death than those who never smoked. The research team explained, "This corresponds to losing 12 to 13 years of life expectancy."

However, the team emphasized, "Quitting smoking is very effective in reducing the risk of death regardless of age, and the benefits can be seen surprisingly quickly." Life expectancy significantly increases within just a few years after quitting smoking.

For example, those who quit smoking before the age of 40 had a life expectancy nearly equal to those who never smoked. Smokers who quit before age 40 can live as long as people who have never smoked. Even those who quit less than three years ago saw their life expectancy increase by up to six years.

Meanwhile, approximately 60 million smokers reside in the four countries involved in this study, and it is estimated that there are over one billion smokers worldwide. Although the global smoking rate has decreased by more than 25% since 1990, smoking remains a leading cause of preventable death.