by FOX NEWS' Ainsley Earhardt
While it may not be the fountain of youth, it will help you live longer. So what's the secret? It's something you already know: quit smoking. The latest scientific study done on lighting up is shocking. A new study has found that people who smoke cut their life span short by at least 10 years. While it's no surprise smoking has adverse health effects, researchers say this latest inquiry is unlike anything done in the past.

"This article is the first article to look at the entire U.S. population, a representative sample of the population and link it to death records in smoking status," says Center for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Tim McAfee.

About 1.3 billion people smoke worldwide, 35 million are in the U.S. Scientists say smokers here are 3 times more likely to die between ages 25-79 than non-smokers, and about 60% of those deaths are directly attributed to smoking.

"So these are very very worrisome findings that underscore what we've known for years, that smoking is not a good thing to do and quitting is a very good thing to do," says Dr. McAfee.

The findings are even worse for women. Females who light up now die at a similar rate as men, and the risk of dying of lung cancer is over 25 times higher for women.

"As the researchers themselves note, and perhaps it's very unvarnished terms, if you smoke like a man, you're going to die like a man," says American Cancer Society Dr. Len Lichtenberg.

Doctors say if the amount of smokers don't come down, it will lead to dire consequences.

"If we don't do something dramatic to turn this around there will be a billion deaths in the 21st century from smoking," says Dr. McAfee.

Now here's the good news: it's never too late to quit. The study, printed in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that smokers who gave up the habit actually gained back several years of their life.
New Discovery by Researchers Could Make You Really Think Twice Before Lighting Up