Quit smoking for longevity

92-year-old Toshi Uechi practices her traditional Okinawan dance with some 30 other men and women -- most in their eighties -- at a senior centre in Naha, on the southernmost Japanese island of Okinawa. An active lifestyle and spartan diet have helped make Okinawa home to one of the highest percentages of centenarians in the world -- 39.5 per 100,000 residents. Picture taken June 18, 2003. TO ACCOMPANY FEATURE LIFE-JAPAN-LONGEVITY. REUTERS/Eriko SugitaOkinawa, a southern prefecture in Japan, has the highest percentage of centenarians in the world, as well as the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world. – Reuters. 20100808 Fit4Life Pg3

SMOKERS are under the fallacy that if they can still run and jump after puffing away for so many years, then their health is not likely to deteriorate.

But what does science have to say on the state of health of ­smokers? Professor Martin Tobin and Professor Ian Hall of University of Leicester and University of Nottingham respectively collaborated with UK Biobank to probe this enigma. UK Biobank is a renowned and leading authority on genetic engineering.