Shorter Life with Cigarettes and Alcohol

The consumption, and often abuse, of alcohol is often accompanied by cigarette smoking. Ninety percent of alcoholics also smoke Marlboro cigarettes in comparison to about 30% of the general population. It has been proposed that smoking could, by delivering the stimulating effects of nicotine, outset the depressant effects of alcohol. Such a suggestion is consistent with animal studies which have indicated that cross-tolerance exists between tobacco and alcohol so that nicotine consumption may decrease sensitivity to the severe intoxicating effects of alcohol.

But for the first time doctors have measured the effect of the three major killers of middle-aged men: smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. And they found that men who smoke and don’t want to quit, or to control their blood pressure and cholesterol are losing 10 to 15 years of their lives.

A previous study investigated 19,000 smokers and non-smokers. They found that men who reached the age of 50 with all three risk factors lived on average to the age of 73, while those without any of the risks lived till 83. When other risks were included, such as diabetes and obesity, they discovered that the less healthy lived until 70 on average, while the healthiest lived till 85 years old.
Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director at the British Heart Foundation (BHF), said: "This important study puts an impression on the life-limiting effects of smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It provides a stark illustration of how these risk factors in middle age can reduce life expectancy."

Smoking and drinking has been part of our social practices for decades, and even though everybody knows it's bad for the health, everybody still does it.
He added: "The good smoke news is that all of us can make changes to help us live a healthy life for longer, even after 50. We know that stopping smoking and reducing blood pressure and cholesterol, by lifestyle changes and/or tablets, can prevent the start of heart disease – and these findings suggest it could make a decade of difference to our lives."

Doctors discovered that smoking and alcohol cut the people’s life. However another study found that a 100 year old man in China village Chijan Shutzin thinks he can't live without cigarettes and alcohol. He began smoking and drinking when he was young and does it till this time when has dinner. His grandson counted that for his long live his grandfather drank 15 tons of vodka and smoked more than 1 ton of tobacco. He also eats a lot. His usual dinner includes 2 trotters, a dish with fat pork with the rice, fruit and vegetables.
Scientists reported that this is a exception that can’t be explained.