Smoking shortens life expectancy

The Irish Heart Foundation (IHF) has welcomed a study of nearly 20,000 British civil servants which found that 50-year-old men who smoke and have a raised cholesterol and high blood pressure shorten their lives by 10 years.

The study was conducted on nearly 20,000 British civil servants aged 41 to 69 who were medically assessed almost 40 years ago and then followed up for 38 years.

The IHF says the study shows that these known risk factors reduce life expectancy. It says taken individually, the risk is somewhat less but smoking is the most dangerous.

The IHF says that removal of risk factors such as smoking increases longevity.

IHF Medical Director Dr Brian Maurer said the research should encourage doctors and healthcare workers to increase their efforts towards lowering the heart disease risk factor profile in the Irish population.

He said of all the risk factors, smoking emerged as the most important predictor of what will happen in terms of life expectancy and it is the most preventable.

"The harsh reality is that a smoker at aged 50 can expect to shorten his life by up to 10 years if he or she also has high blood pressure and raised cholesterol."

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[Posted: Mon 21/09/2009]