It is Never Too Late to Stop Smoking
If you quit smoking at any age, it still helps reduce mortality and improve healthspan and lifespan
Almost a year ago, I wrote and spoke about why it is better to not start smoking in the first place, than to try to stop after having started. Not smoking is an important part of our atmasvasth quest to live long, healthy. Those who smoke have a 3 times increased risk of dying compared to non-smokers and hence live shorter lives with reduced healthspans, often filled with misery and suffering…for them and for those around them.
This week saw the publication of a prospective study by Blake Thomson and colleagues [1], who looked at 5,51,388 people of different ages and ethnicity in the United States and asked them at the time of the questionnaire, whether they were current smokers or not, whether they had smoked earlier and stopped, and if so, the age at which they had stopped smoking. They were followed-up for mortality from cancers, cardiovascular diseases and lower respiratory tract infections.
