Beware : Smoking Can Cut Life By 5 To 10 Years

If you are one of those who can’t stop smoking – remember you will be slashing your life by 5 to 10 years, according to a new mortality risk chart.

According to a previous study, the life expectancy of an American man is on an average, seven years shorter than that of the American woman partly because of smoking, drinking and reckless behavior.

The updated mortality death charts are based on different ages, genders and smoking patterns’ of people and will be published in the June 10 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancerdefine Institute. According to the chart, residents of America are at much higher risk of dying from a given cause in the next ten years.

The authors wrote, "The risk charts provide two basic elements that people need if they are to make sense of the health threats they face: the magnitude of the risk and some context.”

The charts developed by Dr. Steven Woloshin of the VA Medical Center in White River Junction, Vermont and colleagues, shows the 10 year chance of dying from each disease side by side. It also provides separate estimates for smokers, non-smokers and former smokers so that they can easily identify their individual risk.

"We hope that the availability of these simple charts will facilitate physician-patient discussion about disease risk and help people understand where to focus risk reduction efforts,” they added.

The authors derived the figures by compiling government death statistics from the American Cancer Society and National Center for Health Statistics and got them arranged in 10 year risk charts.

"For example, a 55-year-old man who smokes has about the same 10-year risk of death from all causes as a 65-year-old man who never smoked," it said.

The modified chart also revealed that accidents were the leading cause of death in non-smokers (male), who were younger than 45 years. After 45 years, these men are just as likely to die of cardiovascular diseases, which outcast all other causes of death for men 50 years old and above.

Females who never smoked and were under 60 years have similar death risks from cardiovascular disease and breast cancer. Heart disease was the main cause of death after age 60.

In an accompanying editorial in the journal, Michael Thun, M.D., of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta and colleagues discussed how physicians and patients can use these charts to get maximum benefits. They said, charts can be simply posted in the doctors' office or can be handed over to the patient while leaving.

The editorialists concluded, "The risk estimates provided bring us a step closer to the goal of communicating effectively about risk in the context of routine medical care. The next steps could involve collaboration with other risk communication researchers to personalize this information and deliver it in ways that maximize its impact on health behaviors."

Another study found that being overweight and also smoking can lead to deafness. The scientists found a link between how much an individual smokes,for how long and his/her chances of suffering deafness.