Another thing I notice, whenever the media brings to our attention a person who has lived an extrodinary longlife, they allways appear to be heavy smokers!
The following table shows how average smoking doesnt seem to have affected the average life span, the heaviest smokers by far, the Japanese, have the second longest lifespan, doubtless along with Iceland due to thier fish diet, but unless fish are the cure for smoking related lung cancer, smoking doesnt appear to have reduced the average life span.
Suffice to say that some of the countries with the highest rates of smoking have the lowest rates of lung cancer. Consider the following table, compiled by Kees from figures furnished by the WHO and the CIA:
Top 15 Male Life Expectancies
| LE (years) | Smokers prevalence (%) | ||
| 1. | Iceland | 76.6 (1994) | 31.0 (1994) |
| 2. | Japan | 76.5 (1994) | 59.0 (1994) |
| 3. | Costa Rica | 75.9 (1994) | 35.0 (1988) |
| 4. | Israel | 75.9 (1994) | 45.0 (1990) |
| 5. | Sweden | 75.5 (1994) | 22.0 (1994) |
| 6. | Greece | 75.2 (1994) | 46.0 (1994) |
| 7. | Switzerland | 74.8 (1994) | 36.0 (1992) |
| 8. | Netherlands | 74.7 (1994) | 36.0 (1994) |
| 9. | Canada | 74.7 (1994) | 31.0 (1991) |
| 10. | Cuba | 74.7 (1994) | 49.3 (1990) |
| 11. | Australia | 74.5 (1994) | 29.0 (1993) |
| 12. | Spain | 74.5 (1994) | 48.0 (1993) |
| 13. | Malta | 74.5 (1994) | 40.0 (1992) |
| 14. | Italy | 74.4 (1994) | 38.0 (1994) |
| 15. | France | 74.3 (1994) | 40.0 (1993) |
| USA | 72.6 (1994) | 28.1 (1991) | |