A new analysis of how smoking affects health reveals an increase of at least 6 minutes in the time a single cigarette ‘steals’ from a smoker’s life. Initial estimates showed a “cost” of 11 minutes per cigarette.
Every cigarette shortens a smoker’s life PHOTO Shutterstock
A recent analysis shows that men lose 17 minutes of their life with every cigarette they smoke. For women, the time is doubled. A woman’s life is shortened by 22 minutes per cigarette, data shows, according to the DailyMail.
The figures show an increase from previous estimates which suggested that each cigarette shortened a smoker’s life by 11 minutes.
The analysis, commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care, suggests that if a smoker who smokes ten cigarettes a day quits on January 1, then by January 8 they could “prevent the loss of a whole day of life”. By February 20, the smoker’s life could be extended by a full week, and by August 5, it would be a full month.
Experts indicate that smoking primarily eats up healthy years, so a 60-year-old smoker will have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker, the analysis to be published in the Journal of Addiction also shows.
Dr. Sarah Jackson, lead researcher at the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group, pointed out that “it is vital that people understand how harmful smoking is and how quitting can improve their health and life expectancy.”
The Minister of Public Health in Great Britain, Andrew Gwynne, emphasized in his turn that “smoking is an expensive and deadly habit”again “the new year offers a perfect opportunity for smokers” to give up this oicei.
“Each cigarette smoked costs precious minutes of life and the cumulative impact is devastating, not only for individuals but also for our health system,” explained Professor Sanjay Agrawal, Special Advisor on Tobacco at the Royal College of Physicians.
