Whats the average lifespan of a lifelong cigarrette smoker, when compared to a nonsmoker?
I think that depends quite a bit on genetics. I have a friend who told me that everyone on his fathers side smoked, and they all lived til they were in their 90’s. But as for my family, my grandmother smoked for a little while but quit well over 30 years ago, about a year or two ago, she devolped emphezema (which may have something to do with my grandfather smoking in the house and car). My grandfather on the other hand, has been smoking all his life. Right now he is 83, had two heart attacks, and still works 8 hours a day 6 days a week. But then again, he is a stubborn old man. He worked through his first heart attack, the only reason he went to the hospital was becuase my dad said he looked really bad, and forced him to go. (He also told his back surgeon to go to hell (this is after back surgeory) when he was instructed not to lift more then 10 lbs. He still lifts 40 pounds on a regular basis at work. So anyways, I think it depends alot on genetics, but I’m sure someone else will have a much better answer.
Probably depends allot on how much they smoke, if they are healthy (get exercise and eat well), what they smoke, ect ect…
I think most of the real facts are hard to find. Theres to many anti smoker wackos to find out the real info.
My Grandfather smoked non-filter cigarettes until the day he died, at the age of 75. He died of liver failure from excess drinking.
I can’t find the data, but you can be sure that the life insurance industry can. Don’t life insurance companies bet real money, by charging higher premiums to smokers than to non-smokers, that smoking reduces life expectency?
http://www.coughlin.ca/new/Courier9-2001.html
AT AGE 45…
Your life expectancy is:
Male, Smoker: Age 73.1 years
Male Non-Smoker: Age 80.5 years
Female, Smoker: Age 75.5 years
Female, Non-smoker: Age 85.8 years
AT AGE 45…
You can expect chronic illness to occur at age:
Male, Smoker: 62.8 years
Male, Non-smoker: 69.8 years
Female Smoker: 62.1 years
Female Non-smoker: 70.0 years
Thanks, Qadgop the Mercotan for expressing such useful info in bite-sized chunks! I should really sort of print that out and keep it, in the hope of stopping one day.
Extrapolating from a 15 year follow-up of the British Regional Heart Study, Phillips and colleagues (Phillips AN, et al: Life expectancy of men who have never smoked and those who have smoked continuously, BMJ 313:907-908, 1996) only 42% of 20 year old smokers who continued to smoke all their lives would still be alive by age 73 compared with 78% of 20 year old smokers who never took up the habit.
I’d also agree with Qadcop’s numbers, which differ since age 45 is a different reference point.
Some doctors smoke and the research into smoking has indeed been seriously questioned by smoking advocates, researches and related industries. However, the evidence that smoking is detrimental is simply so overwhelming that there really is little debate. Smoking would seem to have some beneficial effects. These include symptom control in severe ulcerative colitis, lower incidence of Parkinson’s disease and endometrial cancer (but not cancer of the lung, mouth, larynx, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, colon, uterus, bladder, ureter, kidney, or breast), and saving national health systems money (perhaps) by having the grace to die earlier.
This is my cue to plug one of Cecil’s columns: Does smoking have any health benefits?
“What other medical miracle lets you blow smoke rings?”
Now that’s an easy one: Cannabis.
Cannabis has been shown to… (takes a deep breath)
Keep certain types of cancer in remission (steve kubby is the
world’s longest surviving adrenal cancer patient)
Work against asthma sometimes (No this is not a joke)
Prevent nausea
Prevent AIDS-induced wasting by increasing appetite (although
be careful, it’s also an immunosuppresant)
And it has several other uses as well.
–
Now you can go ahead and say that cannabis has more
carcinogens in its smoke than tobacco, but the fact remains
that in a study among cannabis users, only prostate cancer
was found to be slightly increased.
Pay no attention to the rumors that cannabis causes insanity,
sterility, or feminization. It does have some mental side effects
if used excessively, and it can reduce testosterone levels (so
it’s a danger to adolescents), but that’s really about it.
Cannabis does not fit the schedule I enforcement it is currently
in, but tobacco sure does!
cite?
**no, it’s a hideous lie, if it’s smoked, and an unsupported assertion any other route
Best come up with some reputable data for these assertions if you’re going to maintain them as true here in GQ**
QtM, MD
I suspect that we have little statistical evidence for long-term damage from marijuana smoke, partly because there are relatively few long-term smokers, but also because less is smoked. How many people smoke 20 joints in a day? Does anyone smoke 60 (and joints are seldom as large as tobacco cigarettes).
I don’t care what you’re burning, smoke inhalation ain’t healthy.
Quite a few, actually–and no, I ain’t naming names. 
No, smoking isn’t healthy, but it isn’t the big black nemesis it’s been portrayed as, either. Anecdotal, yes, but: all my father’s family smoke and they all live to respectable old ages. My grandmother smoked two packs of unfiltered cigarettes from the age of 20 until the day she died at the age of 88.
I think there are many more factors involved in mortality than just smoking alone.
Grievar wrote:
I agree. Marijuana should be a Schedule III controlled substance, due to the fact that it does have medical uses.
But that’s more of a topic for Great Debates than for General Questions.