Smoking: Women who give up before 30 to avoid risk of dying says report

There is new evidence that smokers who give up before they reach middle age can significantly increase how long they live.

A study of more than a million women showed that those who stopped smoking before they were 40 lived, on average, an extra 9 years compared with those who continued the habit.

Women who give up before they are 30 avoid 97% of the extra risk of death.

Professor Richard Peto, the lead author of the report in the Lancet, is from the World Oncology Forum in Lugano, Switzerland. He said it was never too late to give up.