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According to estimates by British scientists, smokers shorten their lives by an average of 20 minutes with every cigarette. The figure is 17 minutes for men and 22 minutes for women, according to a UK government report based on the findings of three researchers from University College London (UCL).
“If a smoker quits on New Year’s Day, they can save a whole week of their life by 20 February,” says the statement from the Department of Health in London, which commissioned the study. By the end of the year, the number of days of life saved would amount to 50.
British data probably also applies to other countries
The data is based on a new analysis of two long-term studies from the UK. The research team considered more recent data, a longer observation period, and more factors than an earlier estimate from 2000 when the time lost from a cigarette was eleven minutes. However, this was based on the assumption that smokers who do not quit lose an average of 6.5 years of their life expectancy. It is assumed to be ten years for men and eleven years for women.
These are British data, but it can be assumed that they also apply to other Western countries,” said the head of the Cancer Prevention Unit at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. The announcement is part of a campaign by the British government to encourage people to quit. One of the study’s authors stated that he works for a company that develops tobacco replacement products. The work of Sarah Jackson and her team has been published in the journal “Addiction.”
The British government wants to ban the purchase of tobacco gradually
Harm Wienbergen from the Bremen Institute for Cardiovascular Research believes the estimate is plausible but pointed out that there are major individual differences in how harmful a cigarette is. “One important point is certainly the age at which you start smoking.”
The government in London is planning to gradually ban the purchase of tobacco completely. A corresponding law, which aims to raise the minimum age gradually, is currently in the legislative process in the House of Commons. It stipulates that people born after 1 January 2009 will never be able to purchase tobacco products legally. According to the government, smoking is the most common preventable cause of death in the UK, accounting for 80,000 deaths a year and a quarter of all cancers.
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