People who quit smoking in their 60’s are less at risk of an early death

tunisante November 30, 2016

Smokers in their 70s are 3 times more at risk of an early death, experts say
Just 27.9% of people this age who quit in their 60s had died, study found
The odds fell to 23.9% for people who gave up cigarettes in their fifties
This was compared to a third of those who never gave up the habit at all

Victoria Allen Science Correspondent For The Daily Mail

Published:
05:22 EST, 30 November 2016

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Updated:
05:24 EST, 30 November 2016

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It is never too late to quit smoking, as people who give up in their sixties still cut their chances of dying.

Scientists have found stopping smoking even in retirement could help someone stay alive for longer.

A study by US researchers discovered smokers aged 70 and over are unsurprisingly three times more likely to die than someone who has never had a cigarette.

But when they tracked people of this age who had smoked, they found just 27.9 per cent of those who quit in their sixties had died – compared to a third of those who never gave up.

Stopping smoking even in retirement could help someone stay alive for longer, experts found

The odds fell to 23.9 per cent for people who gave up cigarettes in their fifties, while fewer than one in five who quit tobacco in their forties died from diseases including lung cancer and heart disease.

It shows that quitting at any age can help save lives from smoking, which kills around 96,000 people in Britain every year.

The research, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, states: ‘This finding is particularly remarkable given that participants who quit smoking in their 60s were as likely as current smokers to report poor/fair health, and were more likely than current smokers to have reported a diagnosis of hypertension, cancer, heart attack, or stroke.

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‘These results emphasise the benefit of smoking cessation on mortality even later in life, and provide further evidence that all smokers should be encouraged to quit regardless of their age.’

The findings are taken from more than 160,000 people aged 70 and over who took part in a US health study. They completed a questionnaire in 2004 and 2005 on their smoking status, with their deaths tracked until the end of 2011.

Lung cancer killed 6.6 per cent of this age group who did not stop smoking, but only 4.5 per cent of those who gave up in their sixties.

The quitters aged 60 to 69 were less likely to die from both stroke and heart disease, thought to be caused by smoking because it lowers good cholesterol

The quitters aged 60 to 69 were less likely to die from both stroke and heart disease, thought to be caused by smoking because it lowers good cholesterol and makes the blood more sticky and likely to clot.

Smoking causes one in four UK cancer deaths, but the percentage of these deaths in the study fell from 2.1 per cent in current smokers to 1.8 per cent in the quitters in their sixties.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of anti-smoking charity ASH, said: ‘This study underlines the extent of the harm caused by cigarette smoking which remains the number one preventable cause of premature death in the UK and many other countries.

WANT TO PREVENT A STROKE? EAT MORE EGGS

Consuming just one egg a day reduces the risk of stroke by 12 percent, scientists said earlier this month.

A study, led by US researchers, also showed eating egg each day had no association with coronary heart disease – the leading cause of death worldwide.

They reached the conclusion by reviewing a host of studies published over a period of 33 years – between 1982 and 2015 – which involved more than 275,000 participants.

‘The good news is that quitting at any age is always worthwhile and adds years to life even amongst the elderly.’

The research found men are more likely to start smoking and smoke more. Many of those who died in their seventies from smoking-related diseases took up the habit as teenagers, exacerbating the effect on their health.

In total, almost one in six people within the study died, including 12.1 per cent of those who had never smoked.

For those who quit in their thirties, 16.2 per cent died, compared to 19.7 per cent who gave up in their forties, 23.9 per cent for those in their fifties and 27.9 per cent of those who only managed to stop in their sixties.

Current smokers fared the worst, with 33.1 per cent dying, and men more likely to die for every age group.

Lead author Dr Sarah Nash, PhD, from the National Cancer Institute in Maryland, said: ‘These data show that age at smoking initiation and cessation, both key components of smoking duration, are important predictors of mortality in US adults aged 70 years and older.’

The study adds: ‘Given that smoking cessation at later ages was associated with worse health and a higher likelihood of having a chronic disease, the benefits associated with smoking cessation at age 60–70 years are even more remarkable.’