Do you believe that smoker who quit before 40 have lifespan same as non-smoker?

Do you believe that smoker who quit before 40 have lifespan same as non-smoker?

I do not think this study has truth as it says in its finding. Before we find out about this interesting research let us see what is all about Tobacco.

What is Tobacco?

Tobacco seed to plant

Tobacco is a plant from the Solanaceae family, better known as Nicotiana (genus).

The Solanaceae family comprises some 2,000 species, including herbaceous plants, bushes, trees and vines. Several fruits and vegetables are from this family.

Tobacco plants are composed of many chemicals, including:

•Nicotine

•Chlorophyll

•Water

•Sugars

•Minerals

Health effects of smoking

There is strong medical evidence that smoking tobacco is related to more than two dozen diseases and conditions. It has negative effects on nearly every organ of the body and reduces overall health. Smoking tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative health impacts on people of all ages: unborn babies, infants, children, adolescents, adults, and seniors.

Serious health problems that can result from smoking tobacco

 

Lung cancer

Lung cancer is the leading cause of death due to cancer in Canada. Smoking tobacco is the single most important preventable cause of lung cancer, accounting for 85% of all new cases of lung cancer in Canada. Smoking causes genetic changes in the cells of the lung that lead to the development of lung cancer.

Other cancers

Research shows that smoking tobacco can lead to respiratory and upper digestive tract cancers, particularly cancer of the mouth, throat (pharynx), voice box (larynx) and esophagus. Research also indicates that smoking tobacco is a contributing cause of leukemia and cancers of the bladder, stomach, kidney and pancreas. Female smokers are at greater risk for developing cervical cancer.

Respiratory diseases

The respiratory diseases associated with smoking are often grouped together and referred to as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) that includes emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthmatic bronchitis. Cigarette smoking connected to an increased risk of respiratory symptoms, including coughing, phlegm, wheezing and difficult or labored breathing (dyspnea).

Cardiovascular diseases

Cardiovascular diseases are diseases and injuries of the heart, the blood vessels of the heart, and of the system of blood vessels (veins and arteries) throughout the body and brain. Cardiovascular diseases caused by smoking include heart attacks and angina (coronary heart diseases), blockages in the legs (peripheral vascular disease), and strokes (cerebrovascular diseases).

Tobacco Scientific Facts

Many perceptions and myths exist concerning tobacco and smoking. Incorrect information can mislead current smokers or smokers who are experimenting to believe that it is possible to smoke in ways that are less harmful to their health. Health Canada has done much research and analysis on this subject. We would like to share with you the scientific facts about tobacco and smoking. For example, we know that tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 different chemicals. At least 70 of these chemicals are known to cause, trigger, or promote cancer.

Carcinogens in Tobacco Smoke

Tobacco smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, of which more than 70 are known to cause, initiate or promote cancer and are called "carcinogens".

•Exposure to tobacco smoke increases the risk of developing cancer.

•Health Canada recommends that Canadians stop smoking and avoid second-hand smoke.

 

New Research-Smokers who quit before age 40 have lifespan almost as long as people who never smoked

Smoking cuts at least 10 years off a person’s lifespan. But a comprehensive analysis of health and death records in the United States found that people who quit smoking before they turn 40 regain almost all of those lost years. “Quitting smoking before age 40, and preferably well before 40, gives back almost all of the decade of lost life from continued smoking,” said Dr. Prabhat Jha, head of the Centre for Global Health Research at St. Michael’s Hospital and a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the

University of Toronto. “That’s not to say, however, that it is safe to smoke until you are 40 and then stop,” said Dr. Jha. “Former smokers still have a greater risk of dying sooner than people who never smoked. But the risk is small compared to the huge risk for those who continue to smoke. “His findings were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Jha’s team found that people who quit smoking between ages 35 and 44 gained about nine years and those who quit between ages 45-54 and 55-64 gained six and four years of life, respectively. The study is unique as it examines the risks of smoking and the benefits of stopping among a representative sample of Americans. Earlier studies had examined specific groups such as nurses or volunteers who are healthier than average Americans overall. Importantly, the study is among the first to document the generation of women who started smoking when they were young and kept smoking through their adult lives.

Women who smoke like men, die like men,” Dr. Jha said. For women, the risks of dying from smoking-related causes are 50 per cent greater than found in the studies conducted in the 1980s.Women and men who smoke both lost a decade of life. Current male or female smokers ages 25-79 had a mortality rate three times higher than people who had never smoked. Never smokers were about twice more likely to live to age 80 than were smokers. This study adds to recent evidence from Britain, Japan and the United States that smoking risks involve about a decade of life lost worldwide. This includes a review of 50 years of smoking mortality in the United States published in the same issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and led by Dr. Michael J. Thun and other researchers from the American Cancer Society. While about 40 million Americans and 4 million Canadians smoke, most of the world’s estimated 1.3 billion smokers live in low- and middle-income countries. Worldwide about 30 million young adults begin smoking each year (about half of all young men and 10 per cent of young women) and most do not stop.

In many high-income countries more than half of people who ever smoked have quit, cessation remains uncommon in most low- and middle-income people. On current trends, smoking will kill about 1 billion people in the 21st century as opposed to ‘only’ 100 million in the 20th century. Professor Amartya Sen, the noted Harvard University economist who won the 1998 Nobel Prize in economics, said “the inability to develop an appropriate public policy about smoking has been one of the bigger failures of public action in India, China and most other developing countries, in contrast to strong tobacco control in most western countries.

 This study brings out how great the threat actually is, and shows that risks of death from smoking are even larger than previously thought,” said Professor Sen, who was not involved in the study. “The result is of great global significance. Dr. Jha noted that smoking rates in the United States, China and India would decline much faster if their governments levied high taxes on tobacco, as seen in Canada and France. Taxation is the single most effective step to get adults to quit and to prevent children from starting, he said. Dr. Jha’s research used data from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey in which a representative cross-section of the population is surveyed every year about a broad range of health topics. More than 200,000 survey participants were linked to the National Death Index, which includes death certificate information for all Americans since 1986. The researchers related about deaths of about 16,000 people to their past reported smoking.Dr. Jha advises various governments around the world on disease control strategies. He is the principal investigator of the Million Death Study in India, one of the largest studies of premature deaths in the world.

The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Disease Control Priorities-3 project of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

(Source- New England Journal of Medicine)