A massive study published in the latest edition of the medical journal The Lancet and carried out over 12 years on a total of 1.2 million British women reveals that women smokers who quit before reaching the age of forty can extend their lives by nine years compared to those who never give up the habit. What's more, if the addiction is ended before reaching thirty, life expectancy is lengthened by ten years , say the scientists, adding that the conclusions of their work are applicable to both women and men.
Research also reveals that those who did not quit smoking at any time during the study period were three times more likely to die than those who had never lit a cigarette. And although the amount of daily tobacco a smoker consumes influences the risk of dying, it has been proven that even those who "limit the dose" to 10 cigarettes a day have a mortality rate twice as high as that of non-smokers . The causes of death among smokers are usually chronic lung disease, lung cancer, heart attack and cardiovascular disease .
