After retiring, Lao Li often played chess with his old buddies downstairs in the community. Yesterday afternoon, when he was playing chess, Lao Wu handed him a cigarette. However, Lao Li told him that he had quit smoking and drinking, and was worried about cancer.
However, Lao Wu told him that there were many long-lived elderly people who smoked and drank alcohol in the neighborhood, and they still lived to be ten years old in good health. On the contrary, some people who appear healthy die young. This made Lao Li think seriously, and the elders around him have been smoking and drinking, and their health is very good.
Does this mean that it is not necessary to quit smoking and drinking?Do people who smoke and drink alcohol live longer?If you don't smoke or drink all your life, will you live longer?
Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine has conducted a survey "Zhejiang Province Centenarian Longevity Factors Survey", which lasted 4 years and surveyed 255 centenarians. The survey included their basic personal information, demographic characteristics, family inheritance, lifestyle and personal preferences. The results of the study showed that 83% of centenarians do not smoke and 73% do not drink alcohol. In addition, 60% of the elderly like to eat fruits, more than 90% do not gamble, nearly 50% do not consume health products, and 40% sleep more than 9 hours a day.
A similar study was conducted in Nantong City, and the results showed that 50 out of 1,236 centenarians were men66% did not smoke or drink alcohol, and 83% were women37%。
A number of surveys have shown that non-smoking and non-drinking are one of the important factors of longevity, and it is not the rumored claim that smoking and drinking alcohol can increase longevity.
Some people smoke and drink alcohol and still live to be 90 years oldWhen we persuade people to quit smoking and drinking, we often hear such an example: Uncle Wu at the entrance of the village does not drink, but he has stomach cancer;Mrs. Xu from the next village smoked and drank, but lived to be 90 years old. This phenomenon is called"Survivorship bias"。The information we are exposed to is naturally biased towards those who smoke and drink but live longer, ignoring cases of early death as a result of smoking and drinking.
In fact, smoking and drinking alcohol have no health benefits. According to an article in the Journal of Geriatrics, there are 215 single nucleotide polymorphisms in the genome of people who smoke but live a long life, which means that their genes have special repair abilities that can help them repair the damage caused by smoking. However, for the average person, we can't be sure that we have this gene, so quitting smoking is a wise choice.
Currently known studies have shown that tobacco contains 69 carcinogens, and in addition to these substances, there are many harmful gases and nicotine and other substances. Smoking can cause the human body to ingest more than 7,000 chemicals, which has adverse effects on the function of various organs in the human body and increases the risk of many cancers such as lung cancer and esophageal cancer.
Alcohol is recognized as a carcinogen. According to The Lancet