The study shows that smokers who kick the habit between the ages of 25 and 34 reclaim almost all of the 10 years they might have lost. Those who stopped between 35 and 44 regained nine years. And those who quit much later, between 45 and 64, got back between four and six years of their lives.
The authors of the study included Dr. Tim McAfee, who is director of the Office on Smoking and Public Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CDC statistics show smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., and is responsible for about one in five deaths annually.
Nearly one-fifth (19 percent) of American adults smoke, according to CDC statistics. The overwhelming majority (69 percent) of those surveyed by the CDC say they want to quit.