A pack of 20 cigarettes costs an average person seven hours of life, concludes a new study that doubles the estimates made so far.
Researchers at University College London found that, on average, a single cigarette takes about 20 minutes off a person’s life, meaning a typical pack of 20 cigarettes can shorten a person’s life by almost seven hourssays The Guardian.
An older assessment, published in 2000, concluded that, on average, a single cigarette reduced life expectancy by around 11 minutes. Now, the latest analysis, published in Journal of Addiction almost doubles the value for 20 minutes — 17 minutes for men and 22 minutes for women.
The new report, commissioned by the Ministry of Health of the British government (a country where around 80 thousand people die each year due to smoking) and published by it, points out that, if a person who usually smokes 10 cigarettes a day stops smoking in January 1st, could avoid losing an entire day of life by January 8th — in a single week.
By stopping on January 1st, if you smoke 10 cigarettes a day, you can still increase your life expectancy by a week if you stop smoking by February 5th and by an entire month if you stop by August 5th. At the end of the year, we could have avoided losing 50 days of our livesthe study suggests.
“In general, people know that smoking is harmful, but they tend to underestimate its impact,” he says. Sarah Jacksonprincipal investigator in the alcohol and tobacco research group at UCL.
“On average, Smokers who don’t quit lose about a decade of life. It’s 10 years of precious time, of life moments and important milestones with your loved ones,” he says.
“Some people may think they don’t mind losing a few years of their life, as old age is often marked by chronic illness or disability. But smoking does not reduce the unhealthy period at the end of life”, says the researcher.
“Smoking mainly consumes the relatively healthy years of middle age, anticipating the onset of disease. This means that A 60-year-old smoker will typically have the health profile of a 70-year-old non-smoker“, he warns.
Sanjay Agrawalspecial advisor on tobacco at the Royal College of Physicians, said: “Every cigarette smoked costs precious minutes of life, and the cumulative impact is devastating, not just for individuals, but also for our healthcare system and our economy.
“This study is a powerful reminder of the urgent need to address smoking as the leading preventable cause of death and disease in the United Kingdom”, he concludes.
