More Americans die from smoking than previously thought

Date: Feb-12-2015 A new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine

suggests current estimates about the number of Americans who die from cigarette

smoking are too low.

Deaths due to smoking in the US may be under-estimated.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) funded study suggests estimates from the

Surgeon General that show smoking kills about 480,000 people in the US every year,

exclude tens of thousands of Americans who die from diseases not counted as caused

by smoking but perhaps should be.

For their analysis, Dr. Eric J. Jacobs, strategic director of Pharmacoepidemiology

at the ACS, and colleagues reviewed data from 5 large studies, including the ACS

Cancer Prevention Study-II, the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, the Nurses'

Health Study, and the National Institutes of Health AARP Diet and Health Study.

The data covers nearly a million Americans aged 55 and over that were followed

for about 10 years, during which time there were over 180,000 deaths, including

nearly 16,500 among current smokers.

As expected, the analysis showed current smokers were nearly three times more

likely to die in that time than people who never smoked.

Most of the excess deaths in smokers were due to diseases that are known to be

caused by smoking. These include 12 types of cancer, stroke, coronary heart disease

and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD - which includes chronic bronchitis,

emphysema and chronic obstructive airways disease).

Smokers had double risk of death from diseases not classed as caused by

smoking

However, Dr. Jacobs and colleagues also found that around 17% of the excess

deaths in current smokers were attributed to diseases outside of the list of 21 that

the US Surgeon General classes as caused by smoking and so are excluded in official

estimated US deaths due to tobacco use.

Fast facts about smoking

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause death worldwide
Smoking and tobacco use costs the US $289 billion a year, including more than

$156 billion in lost productivity
In 2011, the tobacco industry spent nearly $23 million a day on promoting and

advertising cigarettes.

Find out why smoking is bad for

you

The investigators drew particular attention to where there they found a

double risk of death among current smokers due to diseases such as intestinal

ischemia (narrow or blocked arteries in the gut), kidney failure, infections,

hypertensive heart disease and various types of respiratory disorders outside of

COPD.

The authors note that even though these diseases are not officially regarded as

being a result of smoking, and are therefore excluded from estimates of smoking-related deaths, there is strong evidence to suggest they are.

Their analysis also showed that excess risk of death from each of these

conditions fell when participants gave up smoking.

The team found smoking was also tied to smaller increases in risk of

death from breast cancer, prostate cancer and cancers of unknown sites. These

diseases are currently not formally classed as being caused by smoking.

The authors conclude that the number of additional deaths potentially linked to

smoking is significant and may be due to diseases not formally established as

caused by smoking. However, should future research show they are, then they should

be included in estimates of the death toll from tobacco use.

The study only covered data on one million people taking part in large studies,

but Dr. Jacobs says:

"If the same is true nationwide, then cigarette smoking may be

killing about 60,000 more Americans each year than previously estimated, a number

greater than the total number who die each year of influenza or liver

disease."

Meanwhile, Medical News Today recently learned of a study that found colorectal cancer survivors who smoke have twice the

risk of death of their non-smoking counterparts. While they did not examine the

biology behind the findings, the researchers suggested that perhaps smokers have

more aggressive tumors, or that smoking may interfere with cancer treatment.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.