June 8, 2004 -- Former smokers can expect to live as long and healthfully as nonsmokers if they manage to quit for at least 15 years before they turn age 50, suggests new research.

"Smoking is harmful at any age, but if you stop smoking before age 35 you may still do pretty well in terms of living longer and having a better quality of life as you reach middle age," says researcher Truls Ostbye, MD, PhD, of Duke University School of Medicine. "By quitting for at least 15 years prior to age 50, you may be able to regain your health as well as people who never smoked."

After analyzing data on some 21,000 Americans 50 and older, he and Duke colleague Donald Taylor, PhD, estimate that people who quit for at least 15 years before reaching middle age are likely to regain the two years usually lost to smoking -- living as long and as well as those who never smoked.