In men, mortality is 2.7 times higher. But stopping smoking in a timely manner prevents almost all damage. This is the result of a study with data from almost 1.5 million people that was recently published in the “New England of Medicine”.
In both Europe and North America, around a quarter of all deaths among middle-aged people can still be attributed to tobacco consumption. However, the study shows how much tobacco users benefit from quitting smoking at any age.
The researchers analyzed data from 1.48 million people between the ages of 20 and 80. It turned out that quitting smoking before the age of 40 brought the mortality rate within three years to that of non-smokers. Abstaining from tobacco consumption between the ages of 40 and 49 for at least ten years reduced excess mortality by 96 percent. In the group of 50 to 59 year olds who had abstained from tobacco for at least ten years, the figure was still minus 95 percent for women and minus 92 percent for men.
