(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Results from a large study show what many of us already know: smoking is bad for your health. However, researchers say the new data show the "tremendous" impact cigarettes have in promoting a variety of diseases and death.

Investigators from the University of Oslo and Norwegian Institute of Public Health conducted a 30-year follow-up study of more than 54,000 men and women (both smokers and nonsmokers).

Results reveal of the 54,075 participants, 13,103 had died by the time of follow-up. About 45 percent of the heavy-smoking men had died during the 30 years compared to just 18 percent of the never-smokers. Similarly, about 33 percent of the heavy-smoking women had died compared to only 13 percent of the never-smokers.

The trend was also apparent when it came to cardiovascular incidences. The heart attack rate for men who were heavy smokers was 21 percent compared to 10 percent for men who were never-smokers. There were also strong associations found between smoking, stroke and diabetes.

"These results show what a tremendous impact smoking has on mortality," Professor Haakon Meyer from the University of Oslo, said in a press release. "We are talking about very high numbers of people."

SOURCE: EuroPRevent 2009, Stockholm