The Man Who Smoked for 65 Years and Lived to Tell the Tale : My CNY Greeting to Readers

 

  

 Today, Thursday, 19 February, 2026 we are on the 3^rd Day of Chinese New Year 2026 . This article is my CNY greeting for longevity and good health to all my readers who cares to read and take care for the Year of the Horse. I also wish to take this opportunity to thank the numerous WhatsApp friends who sent me their CNY greetings - far too many for me to thank them in return individually. 

Let me tell you a story for all on this 3rd Day of CNY of: The Man Who Smoked for 65 Years and Lived to Tell the Tale — A Reflection on Biology, Chance, and Misplaced Confidence

On the first day of Chinese New Year 2026, amid the festive atmosphere at Tropicana Golf & Country Resort, I met an 83-year-old Malay gentleman whose story startled me. We were among hundreds of guests hosted by Madam Betty Kuok, wife of the niece of Robert Kuok, Malaysia’s most prominent billionaire. The occasion was celebratory; the conversation, however, turned unexpectedly clinical.

The gentleman told me he had smoked continuously for 65 years. Not intermittently, not socially — but daily, consistently, without interruption. Yet, according to him, he had never suffered from any major illness. He proudly declared to me  that he had scolded both his wife and his doctors whenever they urged him to quit. More astonishingly, he claimed that all his smoking friends died within one or two years after stopping, whereas he alone survived by continuing to smoke.

When he once attempted to quit, he said his heart rate increased, his blood pressure rose, and his appetite surged uncontrollably. He attributed his longevity not only to continued smoking but to his daily intake of 1,000 mg of vitamin C and garlic, which he believed protected him from harm.

At first hearing, his account seemed to defy decades of medical evidence. But on deeper reflection, what he described about quitting smoking is not entirely inaccurate , though the interpretation is flawed.

Nicotine is a stimulant. It activates nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain, increasing catecholamine release, adrenaline and noradrenaline, thereby elevating heart rate and constricting blood vessels. Chronic smokers, however, develop neuroadaptation. Their nervous systems recalibrate around constant nicotine exposure. Receptor numbers increase, and baseline physiology subtly adjusts.

When such a person abruptly stops smoking, the body does not immediately relax. Instead, it enters withdrawal. Anxiety, irritability, restlessness, and transient increases in heart rate and blood pressure occur. What he perceived as “worsening health” was in fact acute withdrawal stress , a temporary sympathetic rebound. Studies show that within 20 minutes of cessation, heart rate begins to decline. Within 24 hours, carbon monoxide levels fall, improving oxygen delivery. Within weeks, vascular function measurably improves (U.S. Surgeon General Report, 2020).

The appetite surge he described is also physiologically grounded. Nicotine suppresses appetite and increases resting metabolic rate by approximately 7–15%. When nicotine is withdrawn, metabolism returns to baseline, taste and smell improve, and food becomes more rewarding. Weight gain after cessation is common, averaging 4–5 kg, yet the cardiovascular benefit of quitting far outweighs the modest risk of weight gain (NEJM, 2018).

But the more profound question remains: why did he outlive his friends who stopped smoking?

Several explanations are possible.

First, survivorship bias. We tend to hear from the survivors, not the majority who succumbed earlier. The vast epidemiological evidence is unequivocal: smoking increases the risk of lung cancer by about 25-fold in heavy smokers and doubles to triples cardiovascular mortality risk (British Doctors Study; Doll et al., BMJ 2004). The fact that he survived does not invalidate the risk; it simply means he belongs to a statistical minority.

Second, genetic resilience. Not all smokers are equally vulnerable. Genetic polymorphisms affecting detoxification enzymes (such as CYP450 variants), inflammatory pathways, and DNA repair mechanisms may confer partial protection. Some individuals metabolize carcinogens differently. Others mount less intense inflammatory responses.

Third, competing risks and timing. At 83, he may indeed have avoided clinically overt disease, but smoking-related pathologies are often silent for decades, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, vascular stiffness, subclinical atherosclerosis. Many smokers feel “healthy” until a sudden event occurs.

Fourth, reverse causation in his anecdote about friends who died after quitting. It is common for individuals to quit smoking because they are already ill. A smoker may stop due to early symptoms of cancer or heart disease. When death follows, it appears that quitting caused the decline, when in fact underlying disease prompted the cessation. This phenomenon is well recognized in epidemiology.

As for vitamin C and garlic, the story becomes more nuanced.

Smoking depletes vitamin C because of increased oxidative stress. Vitamin C is an antioxidant capable of neutralizing reactive oxygen species generated by tobacco smoke. Indeed, smokers often have lower plasma vitamin C levels and may require slightly higher intake than non-smokers. However, the recommended intake for adults is generally 75–90 mg per day; even the UK recommends 40 mg. The classic Sheffield experiment during World War II demonstrated that as little as 10 mg daily not only prevented scurvy, but cured scurvy. While modern analyses suggest higher amounts may support optimal tissue repair, 1,000 mg daily exceeds physiological saturation. The body tightly regulates vitamin C absorption; excess is excreted in urine. High doses may cause gastrointestinal upset and increase kidney stone risk in susceptible individuals.

Garlic contains allicin and sulphur compounds with mild anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Some observational studies, including research from China, suggest a possible association between raw garlic consumption and reduced lung cancer risk. Animal studies show protective effects against smoke-induced oxidative damage in organs. However, no high-quality human data demonstrate that garlic neutralizes the carcinogenic burden of tobacco. At best, these substances modestly mitigate oxidative stress; they do not counteract DNA mutations caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and nitrosamines in cigarette smoke.

In truth, his survival likely reflects a combination of favourable genetics, chance, perhaps lower cumulative pack-years than assumed, and the complex variability of human biology. Smoking is a powerful risk factor, but it is not a deterministic death sentence for every individual. Medicine speaks in probabilities, not certainties.

The larger lesson is philosophical. Humans often interpret isolated survival as proof of invulnerability. Yet public health rests not on anecdotes but on population-level evidence. For every 83-year-old smoker who celebrates Chinese New Year in apparent vigour, countless others succumb silently to lung cancer, myocardial infarction, stroke, or emphysema.

Quitting smoking, even at advanced age, reduces mortality risk. Studies show that cessation at age 65 still adds measurable years of life expectancy. The cardiovascular system begins recovering almost immediately, cancer risk declines progressively over years.

The gentleman’s story is fascinating, even inspiring in its defiance, but it does not overturn biology. It reminds us instead of the variability of the human organism and the danger of drawing universal conclusions from individual experience. Withdrawal symptoms are temporary physiological recalibrations, not evidence that smoking is protective. The body, even at 83, still seeks equilibrium and healing when toxins are removed.

In the end, he may have outlived his friends not because he continued smoking — but despite it.

 

And that distinction makes all the difference.

 

References for further reading

 

1. Doll R, Peto R, Boreham J, Sutherland I. Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years’ observations on male British doctors. BMJ. 2004.

2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking — 50 Years of Progress. Surgeon General’s Report, 2014 & 2020 update.

3. Aubin HJ et al. Weight gain in smokers after quitting cigarettes: meta-analysis. BMJ. 2012.

4. Lykkesfeldt J et al. Smoking and vitamin C status. Am J Clin Nutr. 2000.

5. Jin ZY et al. Raw garlic consumption

and lung cancer risk. Cancer Prev Res. 

2013.