10 persistent myths about smoking

Smoking in the UK is down but not out. Around 10 million adults in Britain still smoke cigarettes. Cancer Research UK says tobacco smoking is estimated to be responsible for more than a quarter of cancer deaths in the UK, or around 43,000 deaths in 2007. One of the most common cancers is lung cancer, but other conditions linked to smoking include heart disease and emphysema. On average, smokers die 10 years before non-smokers, and at least half of all smokers who don't quit are killed by their habit.

People start smoking for many reasons. Many continue to puff away because they buy into certain persistent myths about tobacco use. Here are 10 of those myths, and the truth about each.

Myth: My other healthy habits may make up for my smoking.

Some smokers justify their habit by insisting that proper nutrition and lots of exercise are enough to keep them healthy. Not so.

"Research shows that eating a healthy diet and exercising don't reduce the health risks associated with smoking", says Dr Ann Malarcher, a senior scientific advisor on smoking and health. "Smoking affects every organ system in the body, and thinking that you're going to find the perfect lifestyle to counteract the effects of smoking is just not realistic."

Experts also say no matter how many vitamins you take, they will not undo the deadly effects of tobacco. 

Myth: Switching to “light” cigarettes will cut my risk.

Smokers who switch to brands labelled "light" or "mild" inevitably compensate for the lower levels of tar and nicotine by inhaling smoke more deeply or by smoking more of each cigarette.

"Most people who smoke them wind up getting the same amount of the killing components in tobacco smoke", says Dr Michael Fiore, director of a tobacco research centre at the University of Wisconsin in the US. "People who smoke light cigarettes are dying of lung cancer, stroke, heart attack and emphysema every day."

Similarly, cigarettes labelled "natural" or "organic" are no safer than ordinary cigarettes. "You don't need to add anything to tobacco for it to kill you", Dr Fiore says.

Myth: I've smoked for so long the damage is already done.

The damage caused by smoking is cumulative, and the longer a person smokes, the greater his or her risk for life-threatening ailments.

However, quitting smoking at any age brings health benefits almost immediately. "Within a month, you will feel like you have more air, because you do", Fiore says. After a year your risk of having a heart attack will be cut by 50% compared to that of a smoker.

According to the charity No Smoking Day, smokers who quit before age 35 have nearly the same life expectancy as a non-smoker. After 10 years, an ex-smoker’s risk of lung cancer is reduced to about half that of a smoker.