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The hazards of smoking are well known, as are the general benefits of quitting. In this prospective observational study, researchers investigated the effect of smoking and smoking cessation on overall and cause-specific mortality.
Nearly 105,000 women (age range, 30–55) in the Nurses’ Health Study were assessed at baseline and every 2 years from 1980 to 2004; during that time, 12,483 deaths occurred. All-cause mortality for current smokers, as compared with that for never-smokers, was significantly related to number of cigarettes smoked, with a hazard ratio of approximately 4 for smoking roughly two or more packs a day. Mortality in the first 5 years after quitting smoking, compared with continued smoking, declined 13% and returned to the le…