Thus, nationally over 13 million Americans aged 50 and over are currently smokers, including over 455,000 Michiganians aged 50 and over. Today's epidemic of smoking-related deaths is the result of these high smoking rates. Of the approximately 3 million pipe smokers in the U.S., over half are over the age of 46. And, each of these diseases generally is associated with months and years of disabling pain and suffering.
Smoking is the number one cause of fires that kill older persons.
Research has shown that stopping smoking results in improvement in health status at any age, including in those persons aged 65 and over. Some health benefits are almost immediate, and the longer people refrain from smoking, the more their health improves.