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?

  • cabbage@piefed.social
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    5 months ago

    I guess we could compare it to ageing. People clearly get more fragile when they get older, and more likely to die from all causes. The common flu or falling in the stairs suddenly pose huge risks once you’re 90.

    Smoking has a similar effect on you as ageing, except that it’s reversible.

  • MehBlah@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    If it was R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and Philip Morris they would prepend that statement with

    “A federal court has ordered Philip Morris USA and R.J. Reyolds Tobacco to state:”

    I laugh every time I see that weak ass statement displayed in convenience stores.

  • scarabic@lemmy.world
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    5 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.

  • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    5 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.

  • The Liver@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Yeah sure, when you get a coughing fit so hard that you can barely breathe and a bus crashes into ya.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.world
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    5 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.

  • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    Smoking makes you more visible because of the trail of smoke giving away your location - cessation makes it harder for cars to hunt you down and run you over.

    Less sarcastically it’s a way of saying that your overall life expectancy is increasing as it decreases the probability that you’d die from a pretty wide array of causes… that bus is going to hit you regardless of how much you smoke but it’s less likely something else kills you first.

    • Kintarian@lemmy.worldOP
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      5 months ago

      That explains why I keep getting shot while smoking in my fox hole. The enemy can see my smoke rings like a target.

  • norimee@lemmy.world
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    5 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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      5 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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      5 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)