You may have already guessed that smoking won’t grant you the superstrength of opening pickle jars without breaking a sweat. Smoking is indeed bad for your health, as it can do a lot of harm to the heart, blood circulation, lungs, and so on.
Dutch cardiologists investigated the effects of smoking on the human body after analyzing 1,000 individuals, and they bring some interesting insights. First of all, they confirm what many people already know: quitting smoking is a good idea if you care about your health. But that’s not all.
An extra five years of healthy life
Apart from confirming that it’s better to give up smoking, the new study also claims that by doing so, you can add an extra five healthy years to your life, according to Daily Mail. Last but not least, not smoking anymore is equivalent, according to the study in question, to take three types of heart meds.
The 1,000 people who were assessed for the study recently had to deal with heart attack and bypass surgery. Researchers applied a mathematical model for calculating the effects of giving up smoking, and without actually relying on tracking the participants themselves.
Dr. Tinka Van Trier from the Amsterdam University Medical Centre and also the lead author of the study, explained as Daily Mail quotes:
The benefits of smoking cessation are even greater than we realised,
Kicking the habit appears to be as effective as taking three medications for preventing heart attacks and strokes in those with a prior heart attack or procedure to open blocked arteries.
Patients could gain nearly five years of healthy life.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) informs that smoking can cause cancer, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, lung diseases, as well as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).