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Sunday, 16 February, 2025
HomeAddictionOne smoke shortens life by 20 minutes – UK analysis

One smoke shortens life by 20 minutes – UK analysis

Updated research has found that cigarettes shorten life expectancy even more than originally thought – that a single cigarette could slice about 20 minutes from a person’s life.

This translates to a typical packet of 20 cigarettes shortening a smoker’s lifespan by nearly seven hours, The Guardian reports.

According to the analysis by researchers at University College London, smokers who puff on 10 cigarettes a day who had quit, say, on 1 January, could have prevented the loss of a full day of life by 8 January. They could boost their life expectancy by a week if they quit until 5 February and a whole month if they stop until 5 August. By the end of the year, they could have avoided losing 50 days of life, the assessment found.

“People generally know that smoking is harmful but tend to underestimate just how much,” said Dr Sarah Jackson, a principal research fellow at UCL’s alcohol and tobacco research group. “On average, smokers who don’t quit lose around a decade of life.

“That’s 10 years of precious time, life moments, and milestones with loved ones.”

Smoking is one of the world’s leading preventable causes of disease and death, killing up to two-thirds of long-term users. It causes about 80 000 deaths a year in the UK and a quarter of all cancer deaths in England.

The study, commissioned by the UK Department of Health, draws on the latest data from the British Doctors Study, which began in 1951 as one of the world’s first large studies into the effects of smoking, and the Million Women Study, which has tracked women’s health since 1996.

While an earlier assessment in The BMJ in 2000 found that on average a single cigarette reduced life expectancy by about 11 minutes, the latest analysis published in Addiction nearly doubles the figure to 20 minutes – 17 minutes for men and 22 minutes for women.

“Some people might think they don’t mind missing out on a few years of life, given that old age is often marked by chronic illness or disability. But smoking doesn’t cut short the unhealthy period at the end of life,” Jackson told The Guardian.

“It primarily eats into the relatively healthy years in midlife, bringing forward the onset of ill-health. This means a 60-year-old smoker will typically have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker.”

Although some smokers live long lives, others develop smoking-related diseases, the variation being driven by differences in smoking habits like the type of cigarette used, the number of puffs taken and how deeply smokers inhale. People also differ in how susceptible they are to the toxic substances in cigarette smoke.

 

The BMJ article – Time for a smoke? One cigarette reduces your life by 11 minutes (Restricted access)

 

Addiction article – The price of a cigarette: 20 minutes of life? (Open access)

 

British Doctors Study (Open access)

 

The Million Women Study (Open access)

 

The Guardian article – Single cigarette takes 20 minutes off life expectancy, study finds (Open access)

 

See more from MedicalBrief archives:

 

Never too late to quit smoking – and live longer, US study finds

 

Smoking damage to immune system lasts for years – French study

 

Smoking the leading cause of cancer deaths globally, largest study confirms

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