Ex-smokers happier and wealthier
New research claims ex-smokers are 'overwhelmingly' happier after quitting
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Tuesday, 12, May 2009 08:14
New research has claimed ex-smokers are 'overwhelmingly' happier after quitting.
The study by Cancer Research UK found more than two thirds of non-smokers polled said they felt better since giving up.
The length of time since quitting also affected the level of happiness. Ex-smokers who had stopped more than a year ago reported feeling happier than ex-smokers who had stopped within the last year.
Even among ex-smokers who had recently stopped a large majority felt happier than when they smoked.
Today's report, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, found young ex-smokers were also more likely to report feeling happier than their elder counterparts.
Commenting on the findings, Cancer Research UK's Dr Lion Shahab, lead researcher based at the UCL Health Behaviour Research Centre, said: "There may be many reasons why ex-smokers say they’re happier now than when they were smokers, including self-justification.
"These results provide reassurance to would-be quitters that they will not only improve their physical health but that their quality of life is also likely to improve if they succeed in stopping smoking."
Elspeth Lee, Cancer Research UK’s head of tobacco control, added that smoking around twenty cigarettes a day for the next twenty years would cost over £40,000.
"Giving up smoking makes you wealthier as well as healthier," she said.
"But tobacco is a deadly addiction that costs smokers more than just money. Half of all long term smokers will die from the addiction, so quitting is one of the most important steps a smoker can take to improve their health.
"Preventing children from starting smoking is vital also."
Cancer Research UK is calling for tobacco to be placed out of sight in shops, as well getting as vending machines being removed and wrapping cigarettes in plain packaging will all help to protect young people from the influence of tobacco marketing.