emphasema

how long can you live if you smoke

[National Jewish Health]

The correct answer is, it depends.  It depends on packs smoked per day, number of years smoked, whether or not there is a family history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema and a number of other variables.  With a strong family history of smoking-induced chronic lung disease your chance of sustaining damage to your lungs from smoking, is greatly increased.

If your expected life expectancy, based again on average age reached by family members who didn't smoke, was age 75 for example, heavy smoking could shorten your life expectancy 10 years or more.  You might want to ask your doctor to perform spirometry and then calculate your lung age, based on the results.  Your lung age would be the age of the average person who has a forced expiratory volume in the first second of exhaling (FEV1) equal to yours.  The difference between your actual age and your lung age would give you a rough estimate of the years of life, likely to be lost.