Two and a half decades ago there was a study published in the British Medical Journal that claimed that every cigarette a person smoked would shorten their life by an average of 11 minutes.

Not surprisingly, this generated a lot of headlines and even inspired many people to quit smoking, which is great. It was known both then and now, however, that this study had a number of important flaws in it.

Specifically, the study only looked at males. In addition, they only gathered data from British male doctors. While they did account for some other factors, it was not seen as comprehensive.

With this in mind, a team from the University College London decided to conduct a more rigorous study to see what they could determine. This study, which has been published in the journal Addiction, looked at a much wider pool of data. It took updated mortality figures from male doctors, plus added in data for females that was gathered as a part of the Million Woman Study.

On top of that, they factored in other things that can influence mortality such as socioeconomic status, physical activity, and more.

In the end, the study determined that each cigarette, on average, reduces the life expectancy by 20 minutes, nearly double the older study. When broken down, it is 17 minutes for men and 22 minutes for women.

Of course, this won’t be an exact number for every individual, but just an average. The study calculated their numbers by determining the average number of cigarettes smoked per day and other factors to come up with these numbers.

The authors of the study wrote:

“Some smokers live long and healthy lives while others succumb to smoking-related diseases and even death in their 40s.”

They then went on to say:

“The health risks of smoking are not linear and it is not enough just to reduce consumption – total cessation is required to achieve the maximum benefits for health and life. This is time that would likely be spent in relatively good health. Stopping smoking at every age is beneficial but the sooner smokers get off this escalator of death the longer and healthier they can expect their lives to be.”

So, while there is no way to calculate exactly how much time a cigarette will cost the smoker as an individual, this 20 minute estimate is certainly a good place to start. It is also important to note that death is not the only undesirable result of smoking. Many smokers come down with debilitating diseases that may not kill them very quickly, but can make their lives far more difficult than it would otherwise be.

While the study is new, the message is the same. Everyone should quit smoking as soon as possible to reduce the risk of health problems and death.

Please, quit smoking today!

If you found that story interesting, learn more about why people often wake up around 3 AM and keep doing it for life.