“There are an estimated 6,000 deaths every year from smoking-related illnesses including cancer, heart and respiratory disease“, according to Kathleen O’Meara, of the Irish Cancer Society, and on the face of it, that’s a lot.
According to the Eurostat figures in August, there are 1,426,000 smokers in Ireland, or 31% of the population, so 0.4% of these will die each year, or one in every 237 smokers. Mind you, the biggest cause of death according to the C.S.O. is old age.
Each year in Ireland, an average of 29,000 die each year from all causes and the I.C.S. maintains that 6,000 of those are smokers. That suggests that smokers mortality rates are running at 21%. The importance of that is, that if 21% of the population smoked and 21% of the deaths in any year were smokers, then it would show that smoking did not increase the risk of death at all. Strangely though, with 31% of the population smoking, the official figures suggest that one has less of a risk of death if they do smoke, and in fact, something in that cigarette will protect you.
Look at the odds, based on the numbers. Everyone of us has a one chance in 159 of dying in any given year, whether we smoke or not. If you are a smoker, you have a one in 237 chance and if you are a non smoker, you have a one in 141 chance. You have nearly twice the chance of dying if you DON’T smoke.
How weird is that?
But that’s what the numbers say…..
[...] news for smokers: you have nearly twice the chance of dying if you DON’T smoke. Runner Up: Further health benefits of smoking. Honourable Mention: How smokos [...]