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posted by janrinok on Wednesday February 28 2024, @03:17PM   Printer-friendly

Quitting smoking at any age brings big health benefits, fast: study:

People who quit smoking see major gains in life expectancy after just a few years, according to a new study by University of Toronto researchers at Unity Health Toronto.

The study, published in NEJM Evidence, shows that smokers who quit smoking before age 40 can expect to live almost as long as those who never smoked. Those who quit at any age return close to never-smoker survival 10 years after quitting, and about half that benefit occurs within just three years.

[...] Former smokers lowered their risk of death to 1.3-fold (or 30 per cent higher) compared to never smokers. Stopping smoking at any age was associated with longer survival, and even those who quit for less than three years gained up to six years in life expectancy.

"Many people think it's too late to quit smoking, especially in middle age," said Jha. "But these results counter that line of thought. It's never too late, the impact is fast and you can reduce risk across major diseases, meaning a longer and better quality of life."

The researchers found that quitting smoking reduced the risk of dying from vascular disease and cancer, in particular. Former smokers also reduced their risk of death from respiratory disease, but slightly less so, likely due to residual lung damage.

Journal Reference:
Eo Rin Cho, Ilene K. Brill, Inger T. Gram, et al., Smoking Cessation and Short- and Longer-Term Mortality, NEJM Evidence, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1056/EVIDoa2300272


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  • (Score: 5, Funny) by Opportunist on Wednesday February 28 2024, @04:08PM (2 children)

    by Opportunist (5545) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @04:08PM (#1346655)

    There's still plenty of time to quit later because whenever I quit, the benefits will still come to me.

    Ah, that's reassuring. Let's light up to celebrate that revelation.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:38PM (1 child)

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:38PM (#1346672)

      I can't help forming analogies to born again Christians: "it's never too late to repent."

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 2) by epitaxial on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:24PM (4 children)

    by epitaxial (3165) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:24PM (#1346667)

    The key word here is Tobacco.

    • (Score: 2) by aafcac on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:37PM (3 children)

      by aafcac (17646) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:37PM (#1346671)

      Yes, although is there any good reason to think that other options are much better? Some people probably thought the same thing about filtered cigarettes.

      • (Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:42PM (2 children)

        by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @05:42PM (#1346673)

        I'm no expert, but my limited exposure would suggest to me that hookah / bong based cool and water filtered "smoking" is significantly more lung friendly than the hot stuff full of heavy particulates. Filters take down the tar and other particle counts, but not so much of the temperature.

        The real evil in tobacco is the nicotine and what it does to developing (under 25 years of age) brains. It's still addictive for older people too, but not in the way it is if you feed your brain with it during your earlier formative years. Doesn't matter if the nicotine comes from burning leaves, vape pens, skin patches, edibles, injectables, whatever - once it's in your neurotransmitter soup it gets busy rewiring things to make you the bitch of your nicotine dealers.

        --
        🌻🌻 [google.com]
        • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Wednesday February 28 2024, @06:51PM (1 child)

          by istartedi (123) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @06:51PM (#1346687) Journal

          Think again about hookah [mayoclinic.org]. That report seems to put it mildly. I've heard others say that hookah is actually *worse* than cigarettes because of the flavoring, charcoal, or binders used in the hookah tobacco.

          Nicotine is just one of many compounds in smoke. The other things may not be addictive, but could cause more lung damage.

          --
          Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
          • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday February 28 2024, @07:53PM

            by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @07:53PM (#1346699)

            Entirely possible, I'm going from the "if it feels harsh and you have to overcome that reflex to gag, it's probably not a great thing" viewpoint.

            Hookah/bong may well "stealth" the nasty particulates into your system, so you actually take in more of them than you would from a rolled up burning leaf.

            Of course, our urban exposure to diesel soot and all other manner of particulates (tire tread dust, anyone?) is also cooled for easy inhalation...

            --
            🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by BlueCoffee on Wednesday February 28 2024, @06:40PM (2 children)

    by BlueCoffee (18257) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @06:40PM (#1346684)

    https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001801.htm [cdc.gov]

    If a serious study about benefits of quitting smoking at any age can be done in 2024(30-40 years after everyone knew about the benefits), and the public thinks this is new news in 2024, then schools & colleges really have turned to shit.

    • (Score: 2) by aafcac on Wednesday February 28 2024, @09:36PM

      by aafcac (17646) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @09:36PM (#1346721)

      I think the issue here is that the results are larger than what most people think. A relatively quick skim of that article is fairly vague. It does say that quitting does have an impact, but there's less detail about how much of an impact and with fewer studies.

      That being said, AFAICT, it's not too late to quit until you've already got cancer or a similar smoking-related illness in its more advanced stages.

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday February 29 2024, @07:32PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Thursday February 29 2024, @07:32PM (#1346838) Journal

      That's fine but do you also think there is a "replication crisis" in science?

  • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday February 28 2024, @08:57PM

    by VLM (445) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @08:57PM (#1346710)

    Many people think it's too late to quit smoking

    Do they really?

    Possibly, many people think they can say literally anything to get funding. Do they really?

    I'm not picking on the researcher as much as I find the idea pretty funny. Promoting the idea that people thought they would get sicker from no longer smoking, LOL?

  • (Score: 1, Troll) by VLM on Wednesday February 28 2024, @09:00PM

    by VLM (445) on Wednesday February 28 2024, @09:00PM (#1346711)

    Stopping ... at any age was associated with longer survival

    Do it again for ultra high carb diets, and "vax boosters"

  • (Score: 2) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday February 29 2024, @09:55AM

    by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Thursday February 29 2024, @09:55AM (#1346771) Journal

    Just don't tell this to Gandalf, lest the adventuring will be not what it used to be.

    --
    Rust programming language offends both my Intelligence and my Spirit.
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