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Topics: Health
Joshua Nair
Topics: Health
The average amount of time taken off your life when you smoke a cigarette has been revealed, and it's much more than initially thought.
It's habit that became normalised in the 20th century, but now, smoking is not as popular or common as it used to be.
People have become more aware of the health effects that the habit can have, and with the UK looking to ban tobacco for good in the new future, it could soon become a habit of the past.
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Taking up smoking can shorten your lifespan, and a popular 2000 study stated that it happens by about 11 minutes per cigarette, meaning that a pack of 20 cigs can shave almost four hours off your life.
The risks and long-term effects of regular smoking have been outlined several times before, it can decrease lung capacity, increase the risk of cancer and heart attack, the list goes on.
It takes just 20 minutes after your last cigarette for health benefits to kick in, but what if you wanted to keep going - how much damage would you be doing?
While previous studies suggested shorter times, a paper from The University College London, for the Department of Health, has found that it was worse than first thought.
They conducted the research based on new data from long-term studies that kept track of the population's wellbeing, and found that on average, smokers take 20 minutes off their life per cigarette smoked.
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It's nearly double what previous studies have suggested.
Men lose 17 minutes of their lifespan with every cig they smoke, while they estimated that women take 22 minutes off per fag.
The new research also found that if someone that smokes ten cigarettes a day quits on New Year's Day, they will save a day of their life by 8 January.
This trend continues, adding a week to their life by 20 February, a month on 5 August, and a whole 50 days by the end of 2025.
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Dr Sarah Jackson, a principal researcher at the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group explained to the Guardian: “People generally know that smoking is harmful but tend to underestimate just how much,
“On average, smokers who don’t quit lose around a decade of life. That’s 10 years of precious time, life moments, and milestones with loved ones.”
The authors of the study said: “We estimate that on average, smokers who do not quit lose approximately 20 minutes of life expectancy for each cigarette.
“This is time that would likely be spent in relatively good health.
“Stopping smoking at every age is beneficial, but the sooner smokers get off this escalator of death the longer and healthier they can expect their lives to be.”