New Study Says that Smoking Till 44 Costs ONLY 1 Year of Life!

The very article you cite stressed this point:

*Experts add it doesn't mean you're safe to smoke into middle age as increases risk of diseases such as cancer


I'd be interested to know what the "one year" refers to. Does it refer to mean age of death or median age of death? If massive numbers of former smokers all died from cancer, that would not shift the median age of death down considerably, though it would lower the mean age.

Another factor to consider is the possible association between quitting and a light smoking pattern early in life. Perhaps the same group that found it easy to quit were light smokers early on; hence their light smoking habit would not have been as costly survival-wise as that of the heavy smokers, even if they hadn't quit at around 40.

a meaningless SOP to the anti-smoking crowd.

About two months ago there was was a study that said that not only is it safe for pregnant women to drink some but it is in some ways a good idea to do it, but every article I saw went way far far out of the way to proclaim "this does not mean it is a good idea to drink while pregnant", an assertion that misrepresents the truth because the truth goes against some powerful forces which are out to manipulate us.

Same thing, which is properly ignored.

Its basis is statistical, and probably auto correlative to boot. That immediately makes it suspect.

Many conclusions drawn from statistics often forget pathways analyses.
Besides, Im sure the statistical study was sponsored by Ligget and Meyers or AMerican Brands , they need some good news

Only one year? Not sure that giving up a year of your life in order to smoke would qualify as "only". Also the dangers of using statistics this bluntly were mentioned above, but there are lots of ways to generate that answer. If 90% of people see no decrease but 10% of the time you lose ten years of life that paints a different picture (more like Russian roulette) than everyone paying a one year cost. There is also a quality of life issue. If you lose one year but spend five years at a reduced quality of life, would you consider that the same as just living one year less?

Dragging around that oxygen bottle just helps keep you fit.

I wish someone would invent a bag that would go over a smoker's head while he is engaged in puffing away. All the smoke could then be re-breathed by the addict, um, consumer, while none would escape to pollute the air the rest of us are breathing.
They should be made clear so we could still see the smoker and thin enough that we could hear them speaking.
It might have to be larger than head size, perhaps a large enough (oxygen tent size ironically enough) to allow the smoker to wave the lit cig around and exhale dramatically.
There will be a built-in scrubber to remove the smoke so that the smoker could return to society after his fix was finished.

Joe(then we would have to work on how bad he stinks, but it would be a start)Nation

Now we're talking. Something less spheroid, I think, those would take up too much room in a bar.
Joe(and we have to find a way to a glass of booze in there.)Nation

I have read (and heard from my Doc) that quitting smoking does allow your body to heal up considerably, and that over time you will almost completely heal and only have a 2-3% greater chance of contracting cancer or other related diseases than someone who never smoked.

Quit smoking 8 years or more ago now, never looked back, never will have another cig. God, I was sick of them! And that was after only about 5-6 years of smoking. I can't imagine someone doing it their whole life.

Cycloptichorn

Looks like half of the smokers I know.

Smoking Linked To Impotence

How Smoking in Your 20′s and 30′s Can Lead to Erectile Dysfunction

Erectile Dysfunction Linked To Smoking


Bad sex and a shorter lifespan? Where do I sign up?!?!?

They make pills for that, no biggie.

Yup. You get to pay twice. Pay 'em once for the cig and a second time for the Viagra.

Brilliant plan, sir.

At the moment smoking is a bit like russian roulet, but there was another recent study that says that a large portion of the population (30%ish) suffers almost no negative health effects even if they smoke all of their adult life, and those who can smoke safetly can be predicted by reading their gene code. If I am not one of those then smoking till 44 would likely end up worse for me then on year. Still, I think the tables say I should live to 77, if I liked smoking I would give a year or two to do it for 25 years. A decade probably not, which is what the smoker haters claim the cost is.

I read that when I was about 35 and so I quit for four years. The article I read said that it took 3 years to put the lungs back into pristine condition but I played safe. It also hinted strongly that roll-ups were the least danger.

So when I started again, as I had every intention of doing, and which intention makes quitting a lot easier, I smoked roll-ups. I have done ever since.

The reason I intended starting again was because I knew how unutterably boring non-smokers are* and had no desire to inflict a non-smoking spendi on my companions. There was also a sense that I would be letting down the afflicted who are cared for with the tobacco tax. A pack of 20 Osborne's** here is £7 (about $10).

Generally speaking, persistent smokers are not afflicted for too long a time if the habit does them in whereas non-smokers linger on for ever and almost ever, whingeing and whining, costing the economy such a large amount of money that I do believe they have the capacity to break all our hearts.

I have yet to come to a conclusion on the matter of whether it was the Catholic Church or tobacco which inspired the creativity and courage which lead to the cornucopia of goodies which we all now enjoy. It most certainly was not atheist non-smokers.

* See non smoker's posts.

**Ready made cigarettes are often referred to here by the name of the current Chancellor of the Exchequer.

I think the benefits of quitting are reduced by the amount of poisonous fumes or fine dusts a person is exposed to.

The great era of US expansion was conjured into being in smoke filled rooms so it is easy to see where these clean air offices are leading to.

that you're warned against using if you're a smoker