What is the average lifespan for smokers

Article Navigation. Close mobile search navigation Article Navigation. Volume Oxford Academic. Google Scholar. Cite Cite E. Select Format Select format. Permissions Icon Permissions. Summary 1 Death rates were studied in relation to the smoking habits of , men born between and and still living on July 1, Issue Section:.

You do not currently have access to this article. Download all slides. World Health Organization. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 62 08 ; [accessed Aug 17]. Tobacco Use. Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Control.

For Further Information. Fact Sheets. What's this. Related CDC Sites. Social Media. Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website. Dr Emberson said: "Our results clearly show that active smoking continues to increase the risk of death in old age. Risk in former smokers decreases as the time since quitting gets longer and, if one survives long enough, eventually reaches levels of never smokers. Average life expectancy from age 70 was about 18 years in men who had never regularly smoked, 16 years for men who gave up smoking before age 70 but only about 14 years in men still smoking at age Dr Emberson said: "This study shows that even if you were to ignore all the deaths caused by smoking before the age of 70, older smokers still do considerably worse than older non-smokers, losing a considerable amount of subsequent lifespan.

Dr Robert Clarke UK , coordinator of the study, concluded: "We have shown that even if a smoker is fortunate enough to survive to age 70 they still lose, on average, about 4 years of subsequent lifespan compared with men who do not smoke. Quitting is beneficial at any age and it really is never too late to stop. Materials provided by European Society of Cardiology. Currently, there are about 25 million people who smoke daily including 5 million who became regular smokers before the age of Earlier research in Cuba found a correlation between childhood smoking and a higher risk for premature death overall.

In this new study, investigators set out to determine if the findings were generalizable in other populations by conducting a similar analysis of U. However, quitting can substantially reduce that risk, especially for those who quit at younger ages. Getting people to quit smoking remains one of the greatest health priorities globally. Using data collected between and , from the annual U. National Health Interview Survey, researchers examined the medical histories, lifestyle habits and demographics of smokers and nonsmokers.

Occasional smokers were excluded from the study.