Why the study?
Does heavy cigarette smoking increase the risk of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease and acute clinical events in males?
Does heavy cigarette smoking increase the risk of coronary atherosclerotic heart disease and acute clinical events in males?
Heavy cigarette smoking is strongly associated with coronary atherosclerotic heart disease and a higher ratio of myocardial infarctions to angina in men under 51, likely precipitating acute clinical events.
Heavy smoking was associated with higher CAHD in men under 51; hypothesis-generating, prospective studies needed to assess causality.
In this study of 3,000 males the statistical association of coronary artherosclerotic heart disease (CAHD) and smoking habits was most striking under the age of 51. In this group 21 (11.7%) of 179 heavy cigarette smokers had CAHD, whereas 100 (6.5%) of 1,521 other individuals had CAHD. The ratio of myocardial infarcts to isolated angina pectoris was 1.3:1 in heavy smokers, and 0.5:1 in other categories. Heavy cigarette smoking was also associated with higher serum cholesterol levels. It was suggested not so much as a factor in atherogenesis, but as a factor in precipitating acute clinical events in individuals with advanced CAHD. Cigar, pipe, and light cigarette smoking did not appear to be related to the problem.
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David M. Spain (1961) studied this question.
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