Tobacco kills two in every three smokers: report

Smokers will also die around 10 years earlier than the non-smokers, says professor of new study

Every two in three smokers die from a number of smoking-related diseases, a risk much higher than thought before, revealed a large study, BBC reported.

Further, smoking 20 cigarettes a day can claim lives by four to five times more as compared to smoking 10 cigarettes that can only double the mortality risk, a medical journal revealed.

Almost half of all long-term smokers die from cancer or other smoking related diseases, Cancer Research UK also said. However, the figure can go higher based on evidence.

Tobacco Policy Manager George Butterworth said that the devastation caused by smoking may be even greater than we previously thought.

He said research had earlier revealed that only one in two died from smoking in the UK, but the report's figures reveal a higher risk now.

According to NHS Smokefree campaign, if a person quits smoking for 10 years, the risk of lung cancer can fall by 50% as well as the risk of a heart attack can decrease such that he never smoked.

The lead author of the Australian study, Professor Emily Banks, said newer studies in UK women, British doctors and American Cancer Society volunteers have put the figure at up to 67%.

"Smokers will also die around 10 years earlier than the non-smokers," the professor added.