Latest research

Women who stop smoking before they turn 30 will avoid the risks of dying early from tobacco-related diseases.

A major study, published in the Lancet medical journal, made the claim after examining 1.2m women.

Women who fail to heed the warning will die a decade early. Women who stop smoking before 40 will lose — on average — a year of life. Quitting before 30 cuts the loss to a month.

The study was of the first generation of women to start smoking, in the 1950s and 1960s. Women started smoking on a large scale much later than men, so the impact has just been analysed.

“What we’ve shown is that if women smoke like men, they die like men,” Prof Sir Richard Peto, from Oxford University, told the BBC. “More than half of women who smoke, and keep on smoking, will get killed by tobacco. Stopping works, amazingly well, actually. Smoking kills, stopping works, and the earlier you stop the better.”

While there is no exact risk-trend for irregular social smokers, even women who smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day were more likely to die sooner than non-smokers.

¦ National Smokers Quitline: www.quit.ie or 1850-201-203.