Quitting smoking improves survival comparable to never smokers: Study

 Smoking is a dangerous habit not only affecting the one smoking but also people around the person. It is the root cause of cancer, heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

A new study in BMJ Journals, studied the health consequences of quitting smoking before age 43 by time since quitting, number of years smoked and cigarettes smoked per day in the Norwegian population. The study reports that the all-cause mortality, after adjustment for demographic factors and total cholesterol, triglycerides, physical activity among other covariates, was no higher in quitters than in never smokers. But it was 30% higher in quitters of less than 1 year, the quitter group with the highest risk. Ischaemic heart disease mortality, again after all adjustments for confounders, was no different in quitters than in never smokers.

Researchers designed a prospective study in the Norwegian counties. Study included men and women aged 40–43 years who participated in a national cardiovascular screening programme and who were followed from 1985 to 2018. Self-reports from questionnaire on time since quitting smoking, years smoked and number of cigarettes per day, and measurements of height, weight and blood pressure, and a blood sample where serum was analysed for total serum cholesterol and triglycerides.