why do people who smoke and drink heavily sometimes outlive heathy people?

Question

So people who exercise, eat healthy and never touch drugs or excess of any kind and do all they can to stay fit only to die so soon into their lives?

But then you have people who drink, smoke and do drugs in massive amounts for ages but they last for a long time all things considered and sometimes way older then other average people

This isn’t the case for all of them but it happens enough to be noticed

So how and why does this happen?

Thanks for reading and have a nice day

In: Other

Answer 1

Because death is ultimately down to probability.

Someone who smokes is *more likely* to develop conditions like lung cancer or emphysema, but a non-smoker could develop these conditions too, they’re just less likely to do so.

There are other factors that play into death too. some thrill seeking hobbies, for example, ups your chances of dying in an accident.

Athletes who are very into sports and other physical pursuits are less likely to die from obesity-related causes, but more likely to be injured, which could lead to death.