Smoking myths 

Cigarettes relieve stress 

No they don't - all they relieve is the withdrawal symptoms you experience since your last smoke. This explains why, after smokers have quit and got through the withdrawal period, they actually experience reduced levels of daily stress. 

Low-tar smokes are safer 

Wrong again. The smoke from low tar cigarettes tends to be inhaled more deeply because it's less irritating to the airways, causing a build-up of tar and cancer tumours deeper in the lungs. Switching from a high-tar to a low-tar brand might make you feel virtuous but its effect on your health will be negligible. 

Cigars are safer

Any advantage will be marginal. A single cigar can contain as much tobacco as a whole pack of cigarettes and, although cigar smokers tend not to inhale directly, they're still breathing in the smoke swirling in the air around them. A large study of US men aged 30-85 who'd never smoked cigarettes found that cigar smokers are 27 per cent more likely to develop heart disease compared to non-smokers and over twice as likely to suffer from lung cancer. 

My grandfather smoked 30 a day and lived to be 95 

He was lucky - and they'll always be some men who are. But it's more important to look at the overall statistics rather than isolated cases or anecdotal evidence. A study of over 7,700 British men concluded that only 42 per cent of lifelong smokers would still be alive at the age of 73 compared with 78 per cent of lifelong non-smokers. In other words, smokers are almost twice as likely to die before they reach their early 70s.