But Seriously, Quit Smoking Before You're 30 So You Can Live a Decade Longer

By Anna Breslaw | October 27, 2012 | 4:30pm

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Hardly revelatory news that cigarettes are bad for you, but UK researchers have found new data after completing their One Million Women Study, published in The Lancet: quit before you’re 30, or even 40, and you’ll tack another 10 years onto your life. 1.2 million women aged 50 to 69 participated in the study, which included a series of the same lifestyle questions asked three years apart and a subsequent 12-year followup, during which 66,000 women passed away. Of the group, 20% of the women were smokers, 28% were ex-smokers and 52% had never smoked.

The women who were still smoking by the second round of questions were almost three times more likely than non-smokers to die during the next nine years. Furthermore, the risk of future illness and fatality came with “light” smokers as well (one to 9 cigarettes per day). These women were twice as likely to die during the study than their non-smoking counterparts. Quit! Quit now! I smoke five a day, and I do yoga, and I feel disgusting. We’ll quit together. Sound good?