Smoking kills half of all elderly smokers

At least one out of two smokers aged 65 and above are killed by smoking-induced illnesses, according to a study published in the journal Addiction. However, the good news is that quitting smoking significantly reduces the risk of death, suggesting the importance of smoking cessation programs. A team of researchers led by Professor Lam Tai-hing from the Hong Kong University School of Public Health made these conclusions based on an 11-year follow-up study on data from 18 Elderly Health Centers (EHCs).

A total of 65,510 elderly people aged 65 or above and first enrolled to the Centers during 1998 to 2001 were followed up. Information on smoking and other risk factors was collected by interviews, while death and causes of death were obtained from the Deaths Registries.

Up to May 2012, 19,520 deaths (30 percent) were observed. The risks of lung cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality were increased by more than four times (421 percent) and nearly doubled (63 percent) respectively, compared to those who never smoked. “At least one out of every 2 elderly smokers will be killed by smoking induced illnesses,” Lam said. “On the other hand, if the elderly quit smoking, we found that their survival rate can be largely improved.” “That’s why we expect our government to strengthen the tobacco control policies, such as raising tobacco taxes, increasing smoking cessation services etc., to advocate smoking cessation among the elderly and improve their health.”

Mr. Antonio Kwong, Chairman of Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) called on different sectors of the society to encourage the elderly smokers to quit smoking. COSH has organised various education and publicity activities for the elderly to enrich their knowledge on tobacco hazards and to rectify the fallacy on smoking.

Source: Asian Scientist
Published: 29 Dec 2014

Category: Health alert, Top Story