Smoking continues to cost lives at an alarming rate. A new UK study shows that each cigarette shortens life by an average of 20 minutes. A packet of cigarettes costs seven hours of life and a smoker's life costs 10 years. At the same time, other studies from the UK Health Protection Agency show that many smokers are still trying to quit using ineffective methods. Now researchers are sounding the alarm.
"The likelihood of success increases dramatically if you use evidence-based methods such as vaping or other nicotine alternatives," says the lead author of the study.
Researchers at University College London (UCL), in a new study published in the scientific journal Addiction, has shown the dramatic consequences of cigarette smoking, to say the least. The study, which was commissioned by the UK Department of Health, found that on average, men lose 17 minutes of their life for every cigarette, while women lose 22 minutes. This means that one packet of cigarettes costs a smoker up to seven hours of their life.
Smoking costs an average of 10 years of life
The study found that lifelong smokers live on average ten years less than non-smokers. But there is a silver lining. Quitting smoking early in life can restore life expectancy to the same level as someone who has never smoked. Quitting in your 20s or 30s can give back almost all the lost years, while those who quit later can still gain longevity - although to a lesser extent.
Many people try to quit - but in the wrong way
In parallel with the UK study, other research from UCL - funded by Cancer Research UK and published in JAMA Network - has shown that many smokers in the UK attempt to quit using methods that have a low success rate. This study looked at over 25,000 smokers and found that almost half of those who tried to quit did so by relying solely on willpower - the so-called 'cold turkey' method - or by using nicotine patches and chewing gum.
The problem is that these methods generally have significantly lower success rates than vaping or prescription medication. The study found that around two million English smokers tried to quit in 2024, but that success rates varied greatly depending on which method they used. Similar results were found in a US study that VapeTjek's Swedish sister media Vejpkollen recently reported on.
The lead author of the new study, Sarah Jackson, compares in the journal Vaping mail Quit smoking by rolling a dice.
"Some succeed on the first try, but the likelihood of success increases dramatically if you use evidence-based methods like vaping or other nicotine alternatives," she continues.
Misconceptions about vaping can prevent smoking cessation
Although more smokers are using vaping as a tool to quit smoking, the study suggests that misconceptions about the safety of e-cigarettes may cause some to hesitate to switch completely. The researchers noted that those who believed e-cigarettes were just as dangerous as regular cigarettes were less likely to switch completely to vaping.
The researchers point out that younger smokers are more likely to use vaping to reduce their smoking, which they believe can be positive from a public health perspective. However, they also emphasise that there are still many misconceptions about the risks of e-cigarettes, which may prevent more people from making a complete switch.
