Quitting smoking offers a range of health benefits from decreased risk of cancers, and strokes to improved life expectancy. But is it ever too late to quit? New research suggests that even at age 75, quitting smoking can still improve longevity.

"We have seen a remarkable decline in young adult smoking over the past decade. However, rates among older adults who smoke have remained stagnant and to our knowledge, no research had established the benefits for them of quitting. We wanted to show that stopping smoking is beneficial at any age and provide an incentive for older people who smoke to quit," said Thuy T.T. Le, who led the study in a news release.

The latest study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine examined the benefits of smoking cessation in older adults at 10-year intervals from ages 35 to 75 to determine its potential advantages.

The researchers found that if an individual quits smoking at 75, they can regain approximately 0.7 years of their average life expectancy of 9 years. The study also noted that around 8% of those who quit will regain at least 4 years, which represents 45% of their expected lifespan.

Additionally, around 10% of individuals who quit at age 65 get back at least 8 years of life compared to those who continue smoking.

Compared to people who never smoked, current smokers aged 35, 45, 55, 65, and 75 will lose an average of 9.1, 8.3, 7.3, 5.9, and 4.4 years of life, respectively, if they continue smoking. However, quitting smoking at 35, 45, 55, 65, or 75 will avoid an average loss of 8.0, 5.6, 3.4, 1.7, and 0.7 years respectively.

"Quitting smoking early will avoid most years otherwise lost due to smoking. Even those who quit at ages 65 and above can still meaningfully increase their life expectancy," the researchers concluded.

The findings reveal that while the benefits of quitting smoking may decrease with age, older individuals can still achieve significant gains in life expectancy. Even in their later years, the health improvements from quitting can represent a substantial portion of their remaining lifespan.

"The cessation benefit is not limited to young and middle-aged adults who smoke; this study demonstrates its applicability to seniors as well. While the gains from quitting at older ages may seem low in absolute values, they represent a large proportion of an individual's remaining life expectancy," Kenneth E. Warner, a co-investigator said.

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