Scientists Have Good News for Those Long-Term Smokers Who Want to Quit

The harmful effects of smoking are well-known, affecting not only the smoker’s health but also their productivity and the well-being of those around them. In the last few years, health authorities have focused on discouraging people from starting to smoke. However, for those who are already smokers, there’s good news.

A recent study. New research from the University of Michigan School of Public Health has revealed that quitting smoking can extend your lifespan, regardless of when you quit. In other words, it’s never too late to quit, whether you’re 20 or 75.

A new approach. The team of researchers aimed to clarify the effectiveness of recent anti-smoking campaigns. These campaigns have mainly targeted young people by emphasizing the link between smoking and diseases such as cancer and heart and lung disease.

The common message has been “quit before it’s too late.” This time, researchers used a new approach and questioned whether there’s actually a point at which it’s too late to quit smoking.

Co-author Thuy Le said, “We have seen a remarkable decline in young adult smoking over the past decade. However, rates among older adults who smoke have remained stagnant and, to our knowledge, no research had established the benefits for them of quitting. We wanted to show that stopping smoking is beneficial at any age and provide an incentive for older people who smoke to quit.”

Analyzing mortality. The team started by calculating age-specific mortality rates based on whether people were smokers or non-smokers. Researchers used data from different U.S. national sources to determine the relative risks of dying from any cause.

The groups were divided into never smokers, current smokers, and former smokers. Using this data, the team created “life tables” to show the life expectancy of people in 10-year increments between the ages of 35 and 75.

The results. The study found that compared to people who never smoked, current smokers and those who smoked during adulthood up to 35, 45, 55, 65, and 75 years old would lose an average of 9.1, 8.3, 7.3, 5.9, and 4.4 years of life, respectively, if they continued to smoke.

However, if they quit smoking at these ages, they could avoid losing 8.0, 5.6, 3.4, 1.7, and 0.7 years, respectively. For those who quit smoking at age 65, there was a 23.4% chance of gaining at least one year of life. Meanwhile, the chance for those who quit at age 75 was 14.2%. In summary, quitting smoking has significant health benefits, even at older ages.

There’s more. The study also revealed that nearly 10% of individuals who stopped smoking at the age of 65 extended their lifespan by at least eight years compared to those who persisted with smoking. Additionally, 8% of those who quit smoking at age 75 gained at least four years of life.

Researchers emphasize that the benefits of quitting smoking not only apply to young and middle-aged adults. “This study demonstrates its applicability to seniors as well. While the gains from quitting at older ages may seem low in absolute values, they represent a large proportion of an individual's remaining life expectancy,” co-author Kenneth Warner said.

Image | Patrick Hendry

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