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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Ian Sample Science editor

Single cigarette takes 20 minutes off life expectancy, study finds

Smoking Sarah Jackson Department of Health
Cigarette in an ashtray
The study found having a single cigarette reduces life expectancy by 17 minutes in men and 22 minutes in women. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

Smokers are being urged to kick the habit for 2025 after a fresh assessment of the harms of cigarettes found they shorten life expectancy even more than doctors thought.

Researchers at University College London found that on average a single cigarette takes about 20 minutes off a person’s life, meaning that a typical pack of 20 cigarettes can shorten a person’s life by nearly seven hours.

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