A research study conducted by RWC Math Professor Robert E. McGee and his students of statistics has revealed some drastic data about the life expectancy of smokers versus that of non-smokers. The study included data on 1,667 deceased persons collected over a period of approximately ten years. Among other information, students were asked to list the age, gender, and number of packs of cigarettes smoked by their most recently deceased relative during his or her lifetime.
Results show that the median age of death for non-smokers in the study is 76.32 years of age, compared to 67.49 years for smokers. This 8.83 year difference is quite significant, with the only known variable between the two groups of people to be whether or not they smoked.
Respectively, the mean age upon death of non-smokers included in the study is 70.82, with that of smokers losing 5.36 years at only 65.46 years of age at the time of death.
Out of the 697 smokers in the study, 66 percent were male and 34 percent were female. The median age of death for the male smokers is 66.42, with that of female smokers at 69.74.
When viewed alone, these numbers show no significant differences between the sexes. However, when compared to that of non-smokers, the dramatic reality comes more clearly into focus. The median age of death for a non-smoking male is 70.54, gaining 4.12 years on the smokers. The median age at the time of death for the non-smoking female gains 10.52 years at 80.26.
It must be noted that the cause of death was not a factor in this study; thus, it can not be determined that smoking was the definite cause for the smokers’ shortened life spans. These numbers, however, are unlikely a coincidence. For most of us they are not surprising.
If they are, however, perhaps you should take a look at the Surgeon General’s warning of the side of your cigarette pack: ” Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and may complicate pregnancy.