At a time of year when many smokers try to quit, Dr Mary Shaw (school of geographical sciences, University of Bristol) and colleagues report in a letter to the British Medical Journal (2000;320:53) that each cigarette costs 11 minutes of a man's life.
The researchers calculated the difference in life expectancy between male smokers and non-smokers using previously published data and life tables. A difference of 6.5 years was found. They also estimated the total number of cigarettes an average man would smoke in a lifetime and, assuming each cigarette made the same contribution to death, they concluded that each cigarette cost 11 minutes of life. Put another way, a pack of 20 costs about three and a half hours which, they say, could be better used to watch two football matches, take a trip on the Eurostar from London to Paris, "or tantric sex".
A study at the School of Pharmacy, University of London, will test the value of St John's Wort as an aid to stopping smoking. The St John's Wort information centre say that it is possible that the supplement will help to reduce or eliminate craving for cigarettes by raising dopamine levels. The removal of nicotine causes dopamine levels to fall which results in craving, it says. The open trial will compare doses of St John's Wort of 300mg daily and 300mg twice daily for three months in 200 people. Recruitment to the trial begins in February and will be led by pharmacists in North London. The pharmacists will then follow-up the participants at four, eight, 12, 26 and 53 weeks. Results will be collated by Dr Liz Williamson and colleagues at the School of Pharmacy.