Knowing One’s Lung Age Helps You to Quit Smoking

Smokers who are aware of their lung age are more likely to quit smoking as compared to those who do not have this information. This was revealed in a study conducted by British Medical Journal (BMJ).
Normally, a patient is provided with complex data about his or her lung condition, but none of the information helps one know about the age of his or her lung. The idea of providing such information is to make the patient aware of the fact that smoking causes premature aging of the lungs.

Researcher Gary Parkes and colleagues hold the view that by providing details of the lung age, one can expect the smoker to make efforts to quit smoking. This was more so in the case of those who have more damaged lungs.

Research was conducted on 561 smokers, who were above 35 years and belonged to five general practices and were from Hertfordshire. Information was collected on their smoking history, age and medical condition.

Through diagrams details were given to the intervention groups how the lung got damaged due to smoking. They were also informed that the rate of lung damage would come down if they quit smoking. They were encouraged to give up smoking.

Researchers observed that smokers did prefer to quit smoking once they came to know about their lung age.

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