Rich or poor, man or woman, Scots figures prove smokers die earlier

Published on Tuesday 17 February 2009 20:57

SMOKING matters more than money and class in determining how long you will live, researchers have found.

Smokers from the highest social class are more likely to die earlier than non-smokers in the lowest class.

Smoking also wipes out the longevity advantage that woman normally have over men.

The findings came from a study involving more than 15,000 men and women in Paisley and Renfrew.

Carried out over the course of 28 years, the findings are reported in the online edition of the British Medical Journal.

The researchers found that a well-off professional who smokes has a far lower survival rate than a non-smoking low-paid worker of the same sex.

Among both men and women, smokers of all social classes ran a much higher risk of dying early than non-smokers from the lowest social classes. "In essence, neither affluence nor being female offers a defence against the toxicity of tobacco," said the researchers, led by Dr Laurence Gruer, director of public health science with NHS Health Scotland.