“Generally, people know that smoking is harmful but they tend to underestimate how much. On average, smokers who do not quit lose about a decade of life,” explains Sarah Jackson, one of the researchers behind the study.
Profits from January 8
But the study does not stop there. If it is now possible to know the reduction in lifespan per cigarette smoked, the survey also highlights the life expectancy gained if quitting smoking is one of the new resolutions in 2025. According to the researchers, If a person who usually smokes around ten cigarettes a day decides to stop on January 1, 2025, they will save a whole day of life expectancy from January 8. This period will be extended to one week from February 5, to one month from August 5 and fifty days after one year of cessation.
“Smoking primarily encroaches on the relatively healthy midlife years, thus advancing the onset of ill health. This means that a 60-year-old smoker will generally have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker,” explains Sarah Jackson. “Quitting smoking at any age is beneficial, but the sooner smokers move away from this escalator to death, the longer and healthier they can expect to live,” the study concludes.
