There is never a bad time to quit, no matter how hard it is, considering the deleterious effects smoking has on the respiratory, circulatory, digestive, and reproductive systems — but some effects of smoking are permanent. Does quitting substantially decrease the damaging, continuing effects that years of smoking have on the body?
The life expectancy of a long-term smoker is reduced by ten years in comparison to that of a nonsmoker, according to a study by Sir Richard Doll (an ACSH advisor), Richard Peto, Jillian Boreham, and Isabelle Sutherland, which was published June 22, 2004 in the British Medical Journal. The study evaluated the risks to men who started smoking at different ages and the relative reduction of those risks when they ceased smoking at various stages of life. The authors concluded that if a member of a group of smokers (who began smoking at a median age of eighteen) quits at forty, he or she loses "only" one year of life expectancy, while a quitter at age fifty loses four years, and a quitter at age sixty loses seven years, in comparison to non-smokers.
While quitting does reduce the risks associated with smoking for an ex-smoker, many of the adverse effects of long-term smoking are immutable. Indeed, the longer one smokes the more likely certain effects will be permanent, according to Dr. Gilbert Ross. Some of these irreversible effects include circulatory impairment to the heart and brain, graying of the skin, visual impairment and loss, and increased risk of developing osteoporosis and lung cancer. In fact, the chance of an ex-smoker developing lung cancer is eleven to thirty-three times higher than the chance for someone who has never smoked.
Quitting smoking as early as possible is the best way to minimize the long-term effects smoking has on the body. Someone who smokes and stops reduces (but does not eradicate) his or her susceptibility to diseases associated with smoking as compared to a life-long smoker. However, this does not mean that no damage is done. Someone who smokes for as few as five years and quits increases his or her risk of permanent damage considerably in comparison to someone who never smoked in the first place. Ultimately, many of the perilous effects of smoking — for any amount of time — are irreversible. The take-home lesson: the only way to avoid the ravages of smoking is don't start, but if you do start, quit as soon as possible.
Rachel Kleinerman is a research intern at the American Council on Science and Health.
