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Costs of Smoking Linger Long After You Quit

Posted on: Wednesday, 24 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Health-care fallout continues for up to 10 years, research says

HealthDayNews -- Even after you quit smoking, you and the health-care system could still be paying the price of that bad habit for years to come.

Research published in the November/December issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion says quitting smoking does eventually lead to reduced health-care costs. But increased care costs start before smokers quit and remain high for five to 10 years after a person kicks the habit.

One study of Minnesota patients in a managed-care health system found smokers with higher health-care bills tried to quit smoking as a result of the added health expenses. That was the case whether the smokers were semmingly healthy or had been diagnosed with high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes or high cholesterol.

Another study of more than 20,000 General Motors workers and their spouses found former smokers who had quit in the previous four years had higher costs for treatment of cancers, circulatory problems and musculoskeletal complaints than current smokers.

The study found three common chronic health problems -- arthritis, allergies and back pain -- not usually associated with smoking are found more often in smokers and result in increased health-care costs even after they quit.

Smoking triples the risk of frequent back pain, increases the risk of chronic allergies by as much as five times, and doubles the risk of rheumatoid arthritis.

It took about five years for former smokers without chronic health problems and nearly 10 years for former smokers with chronic conditions to see their medical charges decline to levels similar to those of people who never smoked.

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On the Net:

Health Dangers of Smoking

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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