A stick of cigarette reduces life expectancy by 20 minutes -Scientists

A groundbreaking study has revealed that smoking a single cigarette can reduce an individual’s life expectancy by approximately 20 minutes.

This alarming finding has significant implications for smokers worldwide, highlighting the urgent need to quit the habit.

Conducted by researchers at University College, London, the study analyzed data from British smokers and found that each cigarette smoked can lead to a substantial loss of life expectancy.

After accounting for socioeconomic status and other factors, the researchers estimated that the loss of life expectancy per cigarette is approximately 17 minutes for men and 22 minutes for women.

To put this into perspective, if an individual smokes a pack of 20 cigarettes per day, the cumulative effect would be a staggering loss of almost seven hours of life per pack.

Dr. Sarah Jackson, a principal research fellow in the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group and lead author of the paper, emphasized the significance of these findings.

“The time smokers are losing is time they could be spending with their loved ones in relatively good health,” she said.

“Smoking doesn’t just affect the later stages of life, when health tends to decline; it actually erodes some of the healthier years in mid-life.”

The research, commissioned by the UK Department for Health and Social Care, drew on mortality data from the British Doctors Study and the Million Women Study.

These studies found that, on average, people who smoked throughout their lives lost around 10 years of life compared to those who never smoked.

Similarly, in the United States, life expectancy for smokers is estimated to be at least 10 years shorter than for nonsmokers, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This underscores the cumulative harm caused by smoking, which can have far-reaching consequences for an individual’s health and well-being.

The study’s findings also suggest that the harm caused by smoking is cumulative, and that the amount of life expectancy that can be recovered by quitting may depend on various factors, such as age and the duration of smoking.

Quitting smoking can significantly improve life expectancy and overall health, and smokers are urged to seek support and resources to help them overcome their addiction, the scientists advised.

As Dr. Jackson aptly puts it, “The time smokers are losing is time they could be spending with their loved ones in relatively good health. It is never too late to quit smoking and reclaim those lost hours, days, and years.”

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