One Cigarette Takes 20 Minutes Off Your Life Expectancy, According to New Study

For every cigarette an individual smokes, their life expectancy shrinks by 20 minutes overall, according to a new study out of the U.K.

The report, authored by researchers from University College London, found that life expectancy decreases by an estimated 17 minutes per cigarette smoked for men and 22 minutes per cigarette for women.

“20 cigarettes at 20 minutes per cigarette works out to be almost seven hours of life lost per pack,” said Dr. Sarah Jackson, a principal research fellow in the UCL Alcohol and Tobacco Research Group and lead author of the study, per CNN.

Dr. Jackson and her team based their research on higher-quality data for mortality outcomes in Britain than had been available for previous studies.

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After adjusting for other variables that might influence the results, like smokers' socioeconomic status, researchers used an updated cigarette-per-day average of 11.5 for men and 9.5 per day for women, figures which were factored into the ultimate calculation for life expectancy.

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In the United States, cigarette smoking causes one in every five deaths per year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency also says the life expectancy of a smoker compared to that of a non-smoker is at least 10 years shorter.

But according to the American Lung Association, "the body begins to repair the damage and continues to repair itself for many years," beginning as soon as 20 minutes after a smoker quits. The heart rate returns to normal after smoking, and over the next 12 to 24 hours, the level of carbon monoxide in the blood drops and the risk of heart attack is slashed as well.

“Stopping smoking is, without a doubt, the best thing you can do for your health,” Jackson said, per CNN. “And the sooner you stop smoking, the longer you’ll live.”

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