New study shows benefits of quitting and higher risk of lung cancer mortality among women smokers
In the study of 500,000 adults, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the Asia-Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration (APCSC) shows that the risks of dying from lung cancer were about twenty times higher among women who smoke compared with male smokers, a worrying finding given the increasing trend for women to take up the habit in many countries.
The research paper's author, Dr Rachel Huxley, Director of Nutrition and Lifestyle at The George Institute for International Health (part of the APCSC Secretariat) said, "The importance of developing effective comprehensive tobacco control policies is highlighted by our research, which shows that if interventions only focus on prevention, then 160 million current smokers will die before 2050, with the vast majority of deaths occurring in China."
"Inadequate knowledge of both the harmful effects of cigarette smoking and of the benefits associated with quitting is likely to explain much of the continuing popularity of smoking among men in China, where there are an estimated 320 million smokers. There are huge numbers of lives to be saved through campaigns to alert current smokers to the dangers of their habit." Dr Huxley added.
"Effective action in Asia would help to head off a significant part of the projected one billion deaths from smoking that will otherwise occur around the world this century," she said.
The research project was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia and an unrestricted educational grant from Pfizer Inc.
Huxley R, Jamrozik K, Lam T, Barzi F, Ansary-Moghaddam A, Jiang C, Suh I, Woodward M.
Impact of Smoking and Smoking Cessation on Lung Cancer Mortality in the Asia-Pacific Region.
Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Mar 16;DOI 10.1093/aje/kwm002. [Abstract]