Don’t let anybody tell you that it’s too late for you to kick that smoking habbit.  A new study has found that those that those that quit after a heart attack live longer than those that keep on puffing.

Researchers from Israel followed 1,500 over the age of 65 patients for 13 years after suffering from a heart attack.  They found that first time heart attack sufferers that quit smoking after their attack were 37 percent less likely to die during the study period than those who kept smoking.  Heart attack victims who had never smoked were 43 percent less likely to die than the smokers in the study.

Smokers that had quit smoking prior to their heart attack were 50 percent as likely to die during the perios as those who kept the habbit.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Yariv Gerber and colleagues from Tel Aviv University wrote, “Smokers who have had a heart attack should be provided with appropriate interventions to help them quit.”

During the 13 year study period, 427 of the 1,521 being studied died.  While quitting was the best bet for smokers in the study, those that cut back had an 11 percent decline in risk of dying for every five cigarettes a day they cut back.

Other factors that lowered the risk of death included lowering cholesterol, using an aspirin regimen, and taking beta blocker meds.  These actions lowered the risk of death anywhere from 15 to 29 percent.