REVEALED: How lengthy you possibly can add to your life in the event you give up smoking NOW, based on new analysis
Smokers who choose to quit could expect a see a dramatic boost to life expectancy — with benefits seen after just a week — according to a startling new analysis.
Those who stop the habit for a week will live a day longer than they would have if they’d carried on, the researchers who examined the data claimed.
On average, every cigarette smoked ‘steals’ roughly 20 minutes of life — or seven hours per 20 pack, the Government-backed study found.
This paints a far bleaker picture for smokers than in previous estimates, which suggested each cigarette shortens life by 11 minutes.
On the flipside, it means that someone who quits on New Years Day will save a whole 24 hours of their life by 8 January.
By 20 February, they could get a week of their life back and by the end of the year, they could have avoided losing 50 days of life.
The new figures are based on more up-to-date results from studies tracking the health of the population.
Researchers from University College London said smoking harms were ‘cumulative’ and the sooner a person stopped, the longer they would live.
Men lose 17 minutes of life with every one smoked, while a woman’s life is cut short by 22 minutes per cigarette, analysis has found (file photo)
Research found that harm caused by smoking is ‘cumulative’ and the sooner a person stopped smoking, the longer they would live
The benefits of quitting smoking can be seen after just 20 minutes as your heart rate will begin to return to normal
The authors added the benefits went beyond life expectancy — and that quitters would see the time they spent well, and without disabling illnesses, boosted also.
They said: ‘Studies suggest that smokers typically lose as many healthy years as 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.’
Smoking is responsible for more than 120,000 deaths in the UK each year, and smokers die 10 years earlier than non smokers on average.
Two thirds of smoking-related deaths are due to lung cancer, disabling lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis and heart and circulatory diseases.
Treating these problems costs the NHS an estimated £2.5billion every year.
The study, to be published in the Journal of Addiction, concluded: ‘The sooner smokers get off this escalator of death the longer and healthier they can expect their lives to be.’
Dr Sarah Jackson, principal research fellow from the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group, added: ‘It is vital that people understand just how harmful smoking is and how quitting can improve their health and life expectancy.
‘Quitting at any age substantially improves health and the benefits start almost immediately.’
The analysis was commissioned by the Department for Health and Social Care, following the introduction of the landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which recently passed Second Reading in the House of Commons.
Health officials have said that smokers can find advice, support and resources with the NHS Quit Smoking app, as well as the online Personal Quit Plan.
Public health minister Andrew Gwynne said: ‘Smoking is an expensive and deadly habit and these findings highlight how important it is to quit.
‘The new year offers a perfect chance for smokers to make a new resolution and take that step.’
Commenting on the paper, Professor Sanjay Agrawal, special adviser on tobacco at the Royal College of Physicians, said: ‘Every cigarette smoked costs precious minutes of life, and the cumulative impact is devastating, not only for individuals but also for our healthcare system.
‘This research is a powerful reminder of the urgent need to address cigarette smoking as the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the UK.’
