One cigarette shortens a smoker's life by 20 minutes. We are not saying this. This has been revealed in a study by University College, London (UCL).
According to the study, smoking one cigarette shortens a woman's life by 22 minutes and a man by 17 minutes. The average for both sexes is 20 minutes.
This means, if a person smokes even 10 cigarettes per day, his life expectancy is reduced by 3 hours 20 minutes per day.
Previously, a University of California study published in 2000 was considered the basis for this calculation. According to that study, smoking one cigarette shortened a person's lifespan by 11 minutes.
Damages and diseases caused by cigarettes are considered as basis for such calculations. This is followed by how many people died from diseases caused by cigarette smoking and at what age. Now a new study has worried smokers all over the world.
So, today' Health water' we will talk about this new study on cigarettes. You will also learn that-
- How many days after quitting cigarettes does improvement begin?
- How much does smoking 10 cigarettes a day for 10 years reduce life expectancy?
- What steps should be taken to quit smoking?
1 million people die every year in India due to cigarettes
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), every year more than eight million people around the world die prematurely due to cigarette smoking. More than 1 million people die every year in India due to smoking. If the figures for deaths due to consumption of other tobacco products are also added to this, about 13.5 lakh people die from tobacco consumption in India every year.
Improvement starts as soon as you quit smoking
One should never wait for the right time to quit smoking. It can be left at any age and at any time. According to pulmonologist Dr. Ankit Singhal, our body starts to heal as soon as we quit smoking. Although its positive effects appear late, the body begins to improve from the first minute.
Life is shrinking with each cigarette
According to University College, London, people's life expectancy is rapidly decreasing due to cigarette smoking. Smoking one cigarette reduces 20 minutes of life. If a person smokes 10 cigarettes a day for 10 years, that means 500 days of his life have been shortened. See the full calculation graphic:
Quitting cigarettes will get life back on track
Dr. Ankit Singhal says that if we quit smoking, healing starts in our body from the first minute. If a person smokes one less cigarette per day, his life will be added by 20 minutes per day. While people who smoke 10 cigarettes a day, if they do not smoke for 10 years, their life expectancy will increase by 500 days.
Some common questions and answers related to smoking and therapy
Question: What does it mean to reduce life expectancy by smoking cigarettes?
Answer: Life expectancy means how many years a person lives. In the year 2024, life expectancy in India was 70.62 years. This means that people in India live an average of 70 years.
If smoking reduces a person's life by 10 years, it does not mean that a person will live to 60 years. In this, the middle age of the person is mainly affected. Understand this way, a person will not only live for 60 years, but at the age of 50, his condition will be like 60 years.
Question: What diseases does smoking increase the risk of?
Answer: Smoking increases the risk of more than 10 types of cancer, heart disease, stroke and asthma. Cancer and heart disease are the leading causes of death in the world. In addition, the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), premature birth, diabetes and vision loss also increases.
Question: Why is it so hard to quit smoking?
Answer: Cigarettes contain more than 7 thousand chemical compounds and contain nicotine. These chemicals are psychoactive and regulate our nervous system. Nicotine causes the release of the chemical dopamine, which makes us feel active, alert, and relaxed all at once.
So the mind becomes addicted to cigarettes. If it is not met, confusion, restlessness and anger sets in. Our brain knows that smoking a cigarette makes us feel relaxed when we are stressed. Therefore, even after quitting smoking, when stress increases, the smoker will light up the cigarette again.
Q: What does it take to quit smoking?
Answer: In order to quit smoking, it is very important to find the right goal and plan accurately according to your lifestyle. For this keep the following points in mind.
- Find the right motive to quit smoking. The objective should be very clear and simple, like you don't want your family or children to be exposed to passive smoking. You want to live your life in a healthy way with minimum risk of diseases.
- Everyone has their own trigger points for smoking. The most common trigger point is leisure. If your trigger point is leisure, keep yourself occupied with some work. If you get time, you can watch a movie or listen to music.
- If your mind wanders to smoking when you have free time, you can clean and decorate your house during this time. This will not only make the house beautiful but also remove the thought of smoking.
- If you are finding it difficult to do office work or household chores after quitting smoking, you can take a break for a few days.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
