A published study has revealed that HIV patients who are receiving treatment for the disease lose more years off their lives from smoking than they do from HIV. This highlights the necessity to kick the smoking habit immediately if someone is infected with HIV.

The study followed over 3,000 HIV patients in Denmark over the course of 25 years, making it a very thorough study on the effects that smoking cigarettes has on an individual’s life expectancy. When patients were able to get HIV treatment for free, over three fifths of the individuals ended up losing their lives due to complications of smoking. The study compared the life span of individual smokers with HIV who were part of the study against the general population.

A smoker in his mid-thirties had nearly 16 years knocked off of his life expectancy according to the study. HIV patients who smoked had a 200 percent loss of life expectancy versus non smokers. It was a 300 percent difference versus non smokers who did not have HIV. Clearly, smoking is indeed one of the biggest factors in determining how long a person lives, regardless of their health otherwise.

The whole study just helps people to appreciate the need to band together to help friends kick this terrible habit before it is too late. As soon as a smoker gives up cigarettes, it becomes far less likely the he or she will end up with heart disease. It takes several years of being smoke free before the cancer risks begins to decline.

This also displays the importance of having a team of individuals to assist an HIV patient. In this case, there needs to be someone to help the patient make necessary personal changes. It is both important for an HIV patient to quit smoking and to not start after being diagnosed.