Smoking Kills: Experimental Proof from the Lung Health Study

Editorials15 February 2005Smoking Kills: Experimental Proof from the Lung Health StudyJonathan M. Samet, MD, MSJonathan M. Samet, MD, MSFrom Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-142-4-200502150-00012 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail In 1938, Raymond Pearl reported in Science that tobacco smoking shortened the life span (1). In a study of determinants of longevity in East Baltimore families, he developed life tables for smokers and nonsmokers, using data from 6813 men, most of whom were smokers. Pearl showed that life span after age 30 years for white men was reduced by about 10 years in "heavy smokers" compared with nonsmokers (Figure). Longevity was also lower for "moderate smokers." In retrospect, this powerful observation received surprisingly little attention, even though an effect of this magnitude on total mortality, a crude but integrating measure ...References1. Pearl R. Tobacco smoking and longevity. Science. 1938;87:216-7. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Seldes G. The suppressed story of tobacco. IN FACT. 1942;VI:10. Google Scholar3. U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare (DHEW). Smoking and health. Report of the Advisory Committee to the Surgeon General. DHEW Publication No. [PHS] 1103. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 1964. Google Scholar4. Doll R, Peto R, Boreham J, Sutherland I. Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years' observations on male British doctors. BMJ. 2004;328:1519-27. [PMID: 15213107] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Kluger R. Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip Morris. New York: Alfred A. Knopf; 1996. Google Scholar6. 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Mortality from tobacco in developed countries: indirect estimation from national vital statistics. Lancet. 1992;339:1268-78. [PMID: 1349675] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar15. Fiore M, Bailey W, Cohen S. Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence: Clinical Practice Guidelines. Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Public Health Service; 2000. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MSAffiliations: From Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205.Disclosures: None disclosed.Corresponding Author: Jonathan M. Samet, MD, MS, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Room W6041, Baltimore, MD 21205; e-mail, jsamet@jhsph.edu. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoThe Effects of a Smoking Cessation Intervention on 14.5-Year Mortality Nicholas R. Anthonisen , Melissa A. Skeans , Robert A. Wise , Jure Manfreda , Richard E. Kanner , and John E. Connett , for the Lung Health Study Research Group* Metrics Cited byDrugs Resistance in Lungs DiseasesSECONDHAND TOBACCO SMOKECancer of the LungEpidemiology and the Tobacco Epidemic: How Research on Tobacco and Health Shaped EpidemiologyCancer of the LungEffects of cigarette smoking, metabolic syndrome and dehydroepiandrosterone deficiency on intima-media thickness and endothelial function in hypertensive postmenopausal womenDoes nicotine replacement therapy cause cancer? Evidence from the Lung Health StudyCancer of the Lung: Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer and Small Cell Lung CancerInhaled Corticosteroids and Risk of Lung Cancer among Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary DiseaseReduction in the Incidence of Acute Myocardial Infarction Associated With a Citywide Smoking OrdinanceTobacco Dependence Treatment 15 February 2005Volume 142, Issue 4Page: 299-301KeywordsCohort studiesCoronary heart diseaseDeath ratesLung and intrathoracic tumorsLungsMedical risk factorsPrevention, policy, and public health ePublished: 15 February 2005 Issue Published: 15 February 2005 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2005 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...