Background Smoking is the biggest preventable factor causing mortality and morbidity and the health benefits of smoking cessation are commonly known. Smoking cessation-related weight gain is well documented. We evaluated the association between smoking cessation and the incidence of obesity-related morbidities such as hypertension, diabetes and metabolic syndrome as well as mortality. We also evaluated telomere length related to smoking cessation. Material and methods This study was part of the OPERA (Oulu Project Elucidating Risk of Atherosclerosis) study. The mean follow up time among the 600 study subjects was 20 years. We divided the study subjects into four groups by smoking status (“never”, “current”, “ex-smokers” and “quit”) and analyzed their health status. “Ex-smokers” had quit smoking before baseline and “quit” quit during the follow-up time. Information about total mortality between the years 2013–2020 was also utilized. Results During the follow-up time systolic blood pressure decreased the most in the “current” and in the “ex-smoker” groups. Office SBP decreased the least in the “quit” group (p = 0.001). BMI increased the most in the “quit” and the least in the “ex-smokers” group (p = 0.001). No significant increases were seen in the incidence of obesity-related-diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension and diabetes was seen. There was no significant difference in the shortening of telomeres. Odds of short-term mortality was increased in the “current” group (2.43 (CI 95% 1.10; 5.39)), but not in the “quit” (1.43 (CI 95% 0.73–2.80)) or “ex-smoker” (1.02 (CI 95% 0.56–1.86)) groups when compared to “never” group. Conclusions Even though, the blood pressure levels were unfavorable in the “quit” group, there was no significant increase in the incidence of obesity-related-diseases, and a noticeable benefit in short-term mortality was seen during the 6-year follow-up. The benefits of smoking cessation outweigh the disadvantages in the long-term.

Background In earlier studies, the health benefits of physical activity have only been related to leisure time physical activity (LTPA). High occupational physical activity (OPA) might even be harmful. The current physical activity recommendations do not separate the OPA and LTPA. We investigated the effect of LTPA and OPA on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality during long-term follow-up. We also examined how heavy work affects the benefits of leisure time exercise. Material and methods The study was part of the OPERA study and the baseline examinations were conducted between the years 1991 and 1993. The Follow-up of events continued until the end of the year 2020. Study subjects ( n = 1044) were divided into four groups according to their LTPA (“no exercise”, “irregular”, “regular” and “heavy regular”) and into three groups according to their OPA (“no activity”, “mild” and “heavy”). The amount of exercise was self-reported and the exercise status was defined at the beginning of the study. Study subjects were followed up for their overall mortality (26 years), fatal and non-fatal CVD events (24 and 20 years) and heart failure (20 years). The survival analysis was performed using Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox-proportional hazard models. Results “Heavy” OPA group subjects belonging to the “irregular” (less than 1–2 times 30 min exercise per week) LTPA group experienced the lowest overall mortality compared to other LTPA groups. Also, overall mortality was increased in the “mild” ( p = 0.002) and CVD mortality in the” heavy” ( p = 0.005) OPA group compared to “no activity”. The incidence of heart failure was increased in the “no exercise” LTPA compared to the “heavy regular” ( p = 0.015) group. Conclusions Study subjects who were in physically demanding occupations (heavy OPA) seemed to benefit from less LTPA than WHO currently recommends. Thus we suggest targeting different LTPA recommendations to different OPA groups.