Giant Research in the USA Determines the Best Age to Quit Smoking to Avoid Death Risks: ScienceAlert

A large study shows that smokers who quit before age 35 have similar death rates to those who have never smoked in a given period of time.

The study found that those who quit smoking at an older age still see significant benefits, but their death rate surpasses those who quit before age 35.

For example, former smokers who quit between the ages of 35 and 44 showed a 21 percent higher mortality rate from any cause, compared to “never smokers.” Those who quit smoking between the ages of 45 and 54 showed a 47 percent higher all-cause mortality rate than those who never smoked.

“Among men and women of diverse racial and ethnic groups, current smoking was associated with at least twice the all-cause mortality rate than never smoking,” study authors wrote in a new report published Monday, October 24 in the journal Science. JAMA Network Open.

“Quitting smoking, especially at a young age, was associated with significant reductions in the relative excess mortality associated with continued smoking.”

John P. Pierce, professor emeritus in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California, is the third major study to suggest that 35 may be the optimal age to quit, especially for those who start smoking at a young age. San Diego wrote in a review of the study.

“It has long been known that the sooner a smoker quits, the better,” wrote Pierce, who was not involved in the new research. “However, it is now possible to be more specific about the age of the person who quits.”

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The new study used data from the US National Health Interview Survey, a survey-based survey used to monitor the health of the US population, and the National Death Index, a database of the nation’s death records.

The analysis included survey data from more than 550,000 adults who completed the surveys between January 1997 and December 2018 and were aged 25 to 84 at the time of recruitment.

These included current smokers, former smokers, and purported never-smokers, that is, those who smoked less than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime.

According to the National Death Index, about 75,000 of these study subjects had died by the end of 2019. Compared to never smokers, current smokers showed significantly higher all-cause mortality rates overall, as well as higher death rates from cancer. especially heart disease and lung disease.

Non-Hispanic white smokers showed the highest all-cause mortality rate, three times higher than never-smokers. Mortality rates for non-white smokers, including both Hispanic and non-Hispanic people, were slightly lower, about twice that of never-smokers.

This may be related to the fact that these participants reported smoking fewer cigarettes per day, on average; start smoking at an older age; and less likely to smoke daily compared to white subjects.

“These results remind us that reducing smoking intensity (cigarettes per day) should be one of the goals of tobacco control programs,” Price said in his comment.

Most importantly, current smoking was linked to a higher risk of death in all racial and ethnic groups surveyed, while “quitting smoking was associated with substantially reversed risks for all groups,” the study authors wrote.

In particular, those who quit by age 45 reduced their risk of over-death by up to 90 percent, and those who quit before age 35 showed death rates very close to those who never smoked.

Similarly, the study also found that the longer it has been since a person quit smoking, the closer their death rate was to those of never-smokers.

In her comment, Price wrote that having the age limit of 35 could be potentially motivating for young smokers trying to quit.

“Without a close goal, it’s tempting for smokers to give up trying to quit with cognitions like ‘I don’t really need this right now.’ The study … provides the data needed to set a motivating close goal to quit smoking before age 35,” he wrote.

But of course, not all is lost after age 35 – as the study suggests, quitting smoking later in life reduces one’s risk of death nonetheless, if not significantly.

The research has some limitations. For example, information on subjects’ smoking habits was collected at a particular time, so some subjects may have quit or started smoking after the survey was conducted.

“Therefore, both the real dangers of smoking and the real benefits of quitting may be underestimated in this study,” the authors cautioned.

However, the study still shows that quitting smoking greatly reduces the risk of premature death – especially if you do it at a younger age.

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This article was originally published by Live Science. Read the original article here.