Study Suggests It's Never Too Late to Quit Smoking and Live Longer

For years, scientific studies have pointed to both the detrimental effects that smoking cigarettes can have on our health and the benefits that quitting can bring in the short and long term. It turns out that even if you smoke well into your 60s and 70s, it's still possible to start to reverse that damage by quitting.

A study published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine outlines what researchers from the University of Michigan found when examining how quitting smoking can affect life expectancy. They found that 52.8 percent of 35-year-olds who quit smoking at age 35 will gain at least one year in life expectancy, with as much as 36 percent gaining at least eight years. For 26.8 percent of 55-year-olds, quitting smoking at 55 could lead to a lifespan gain of four or more years.

The most surprising figures, however, came from those who quit smoking at ages 65 and 75. The current average life expectancy in the U.S. is about 78 years, according to the CDC , so one might think that quitting smoking at this stage in life would be too late to reap the benefits of putting down the pack. But according to the study, 23.4 percent of 65-year-olds and 14.2 percent of 75-year-olds could gain at least one year of life when they quit.

"This study adds to the body of knowledge supporting the profoundly important assessment that quitting smoking is the single best thing people can do to enhance their life expectancy," the team wrote in the study. "This cessation benefit is not limited to young and middle-aged adults who smoke ; this study demonstrates its applicability to seniors as well. These findings may be valuable for clinicians seeking scientific evidence to motivate their patients who smoke to quit."

If you're in your golden years and feel like it's too late to quit, rest assured it's not.