In some studies, at the end of them, I see:

“quitting smoking reduces your chance of dying from all causes.”

So if I quit smoking I’m less likely to get hit by a bus?

  • norimee@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    As a former ICU nurse I can tell you that someone who has been taking good care of their body, is fit and healthy, has a better chance of survival and less complications while recovering as someone who didn’t. No matter the injury.

    If you get hit by a bus and your lung is compromised it has a harder time compensating for the injury if it was already damaged.

    So yes. You might have a better chance to survive a car crash if you haven’t been smoking.

    • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      You might have a better chance to survive a car crash if you haven’t been smoking.

      That’s probably why I’ve survived so many car crashes.

    • philpo@feddit.org
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      2 months ago

      Yeah. Came here to write exactly this.

      What OP misunderstood is the old tale of mortality vs. lethality.

      In a simplified explanation: Mortality defines the percentage of deaths in a population by a cause.

      Lethality is the percentage of deaths of people suffering from a cause.

      In our case:

      • Smokers might only get hit by a bus slightly less often or slightly more often(1) (Mortality)

      • But they have a far greater chance of dying from it when they get hit. The same can be said for being shot,etc. Being a smoker always reduces your statistical chances.

      (1:Actually quite fascinating - there is conflicting evidence on that one, as smoking is often statistically associated with substance abuse and bad health - which increases the likelihood of major trauma events, but on the other hand smokers die earlier,leaving more old people to walk in front of vehicles due to reduced cognitive abilities)

  • Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    You should ABSOLUTELY quit smoking. Also, you should stop getting hit by buses. Neither one are good for you.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Let’s say you’re a smoker and your workplace says you have to go outside to smoke.

    It’s the middle of November, it’s cold, it’s rainy, you’re outside smoking and get pneumonia.

    Your lungs are already weak from smoking and the pneumonia kills you.

    If you quit smoking, you would have been inside, dry, safe, less likely to contract pneumonia and less likely to die from it if you get it.

  • stoly@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    It references general body health and the sorts of things that make you age and die. Heart health, lung condition, oral health, stroke risk, skin quality, etc. All of that stuff is affected negatively by smoking. Stopping nearly instantly makes these things better, and they improve over time. So basically if you stop smoking, any way you could die of natural causes drops.

  • scarabic@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Buses drive outside.

    People tend to step outside for a smoke.

    So yeah, you actually might be more likely to get hit by a bus if you smoke, your smoking spot is anywhere near a bus route, and you are ducking out there 2-4 times a day to stand there smoking while you play with your phone.

  • Shanedino@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    If you got hit by a bus your chance for recovery would be better as a non-smoker than a smoker.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Basically yeah, obviously no. Cause of death isn’t broken down nearly as far as people think it is. You can check it out on the CDC’s Web portal. So while you can get the results for motor vehicle accidents, you may not get the results for motor vehicle versus pedestrian.

    So all they’re actually claiming is that in the statistics, people who quit smoking are less represented in every category.

  • ngwoo@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    It means your life expectancy immediately increases. There are some things that, depending on your age, improving won’t improve life expectancy. ie, a 99 year old doing something that reduces their risk of colon cancer but nothing else will not reduce their chances of dying because something else will kill them first with 100% certainty.

    Quitting smoking decreases risk of death for absolutely everyone in every circumstance

  • lugal@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    I first read it as “dying for a cause”. I guess cigarettes make you more revolutionary or something