Here’s how much of your life you lose with every cigarette you smoke
Here’s how much of your life you lose with every cigarette you smoke
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Each cigarette you smoke reduces your lifespan by an estimated 20 minutes, new research has shown. Men’s lives are cut short by around 17 minutes with each cigarette smoked, while women’s are reduced by an estimated 22 minutes. This is more than previous estimates, which suggest that each cigarette shortens a smoker’s life by 11 minutes.
![[A man sits outside and holds a slim menthol cigarette between his fingers. Close-up with focus on the cigarette.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/SEI_230990119-91f9.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
The new estimates are based on more up-to-date figures from long-term studies tracking the health of the population. Researchers from University College London said that the harm caused by smoking is ‘cumulative’ and the sooner a person stops smoking, and the more cigarettes they avoid smoking, the longer they live.
The new analysis, commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care, suggests that if a 10-cigarettes-a-day smoker quits on January 1, then by January 8 they could ‘prevent loss of a full day of life’. By February 20, their lives could be extended by a whole week.
And if their quitting is successful until August 5, they will likely live for a whole month longer than if they had continued to smoke. The authors added: ‘Studies suggest that smokers typically lose about the same number of healthy years as they do total years of life.
‘Thus smoking primarily eats into the relatively healthy middle years rather than shortening the period at the end of life, which is often marked by chronic illness or disability. ‘So a 60-year-old smoker will typically have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker.’.
