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Smoking cessation results in lower risk for early death compared with continued smoking. However, the timeframe during which this benefit accrues is unclear. Researchers analyzed nationally representative data on 440,000 adults (mean age, 47) from the U.S. National Health Interview Survey and National Death Index and determined the association between years since quitting and death.
During a mean 11 years of follow-up, current smokers' risks for cardiovascular-, cancer-, and respiratory-related deaths were 2, 3, and 13 times higher, respectively, than never smokers' risks. Former smokers who had quit <10 years before enrollment avoided roughly 50% to 60% of these excess risks. By 30 years after quitting, excess mortality was virtually elimin…