"Smokers urged to quit as one cigarette' takes 20 minutes off life expectancy'" the Guardian, 30 December

[Amari]

The article quotes work from University College London, published in Journal of Addiction, showing that on average, a single cigarette takes about 20 minutes (17 mins for men, 22 for women) off a person's life. I smoked 10 cigs a day for 22 years - I think I'll have to trim my ambition to be the first centenarian beekeeper on the Forum........
https://www.theguardian.com/society...te-takes-20-minutes-off-life-expectancy-study

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I must have died before I did my A levels then!

 

[Anduril]

My dad and grandpa should have died at the age of 200 according to the Guardian. Both smoked my grandpa up to the age of 92 and my dad stopped in his 50s and died at 98.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I smoked 10 cigs a day for 22 years

part timer then?

 

[JamezF]

Giving up doesn't make your life longer. It just feels that way

James

 

[Anduril]

Giving up doesn't make your life longer. It just feels that way

James

You have to retrain your hands!

 

[Sutty]

I had a patient who had given up but previously smoked 150 a day - he only slept 4hrs and chain smoked every waking minute.
I was testing him for ischaemic heart disease, the test was positive, surprise!

 

[Sutty]

The article quotes work from University College London, published in Journal of Addiction, showing that on average, a single cigarette takes about 20 minutes (17 mins for men, 22 for women) off a person's life. I smoked 10 cigs a day for 22 years - I think I'll have to trim my ambition to be the first centenarian beekeeper on the Forum........
https://www.theguardian.com/society...te-takes-20-minutes-off-life-expectancy-study
View attachment 41827

That works out at life shortened by 2.6 years if I have the maths correct.
Sounds about right or an underestimate.

 

[JamezF]

To be fair though, thinning out the population a little wouldn't do any harm and if there's a group that wants to voluntarily select itself for euthanasia, well... Perhaps the government should make cigarettes much cheaper and let things take their course

James

 

[Sutty]

I read, maybe 20+ years ago, that the cost of treating smoking related health issues is more than offset, not by taxes and duty, but by the reduced state pension payouts.
So maybe successive governments haven't been that keen to stop people!

 

[alancooper]

part timer then?

Lucky man? Maybe try the National Lottery

 

[pargyle]

I smoked 40 a day and started smoking at 13 ... I used to get bronchitis every winter. During one particularly nasty bout where I had so much trouble breathing I thought I would die - I went to the doctor. I explained my condition and he asked if I smoked, I replied that I did and he suggested that I would be advised to stop smoking. As he had a cigarette on the go in an ashtray on his desk I asked how he reconciled the fact that he was smoking = he replied 'I haven't got bronchitis !'

How times have changed - when Marlborough was the mark if a man and Philip Morris actually claimed their cigarettes actually helped to heal irritated throats ...

 

[Wilco]

And you've all taken up a hobby which involves smoke so have you really quit?

 

[Sutty]

I smoked 40 a day and started smoking at 13 ... I used to get bronchitis every winter. During one particularly nasty bout where I had so much trouble breathing I thought I would die - I went to the doctor. I explained my condition and he asked if I smoked, I replied that I did and he suggested that I would be advised to stop smoking. As he had a cigarette on the go in an ashtray on his desk I asked how he reconciled the fact that he was smoking = he replied 'I haven't got bronchitis !'

How times have changed - when Marlborough was the mark if a man and Philip Morris actually claimed their cigarettes actually helped to heal irritated throats ...

As a very junior doctor I witnessed my cardiac surgeon boss castigating a patient for smoking, leaning over and dropping a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket

 

[Amari]

That works out at life shortened by 2.6 years if I have the maths correct.
Sounds about right or an underestimate.

I read, maybe 20+ years ago, that the cost of treating smoking related health issues is more than offset, not by taxes and duty, but by the reduced state pension payouts.
So maybe successive governments haven't been that keen to stop people!

Yes, about 2.6 years. I'll let you know in due course......
What a waste of my NHS final salary pension.........

 

[ericbeaumont]

150 a day - he only slept 4hrs and chain smoked every waking minute

I'm fascinated: did he enjoy it or curse the control it had over him?

 

[Amari]

My dad and grandpa should have died at the age of 200 according to the Guardian. Both smoked my grandpa up to the age of 92 and my dad stopped in his 50s and died at 98.

It could be you who becomes the first centenarian beekeeper......

 

[Anduril]

It could be you who becomes the first centenarian beekeeper......

Maybe not with an ICD fitted this year. Gave my family a fright.

 

[Amari]

As a very junior doctor I witnessed my cardiac surgeon boss castigating a patient for smoking, leaning over and dropping a packet of cigarettes out of his pocket

Yes, my wife was raised in the Welsh valleys. Her GP chain-smoked during the surgeries and had a stack of Senior Service on his desk.

 

[Sutty]

I'm fascinated: did he enjoy it or curse the control it had over him?

I'm not sure, it was a long time ago, but as I remember he had just stopped "cold turkey", a few people supposedly don't get addicted. I do remember him saying that in that period of his life every single photo had a cigarette in his mouth or hand, he was working for a logging company in Africa and cigarettes were cheap. His first cigarette of the day was lit before getting out of bed, and the last stubbed out back in bed! Only one match per day.
.