Health consequences of sustained smoking cessation

Abstract

Objectives: To estimate the risk of dying from all causes and from specified smoking-related diseases in people who were ex-smokers at two consecutive examinations, compared with never smokers and with people who were ex-smokers at the first examination but who had resumed smoking at the following examination. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: Three counties in Norway. Participants: A total of 23 560 men and 25 122 women, aged 20-49, screened for cardiovascular disease risk factors in the mid 1970s, rescreened after 3-13 years and followed throughout 2005 participated in this study. Outcomes: Absolute mortality and relative risks adjusted for confounding variables, of dying from all causes, cardiovascular disease, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and other smoking-related cancer. Results: With sustained never smokers as reference, the sustained ex-smokers had adjusted relative risk (95% CI), of dying from any cause, for men 0.97 (0.80 to 1.18), for women 0.98 (0.65 to 1.48). Corresponding risk for exsmokers who resumed smoking was for men 1.59 (1.32 to 1.91), for women 1.40 (1.08 to 1.81). For the specified smoking-related diseases, the risk in sustained exsmokers was not significantly different from the risk in sustained never-smokers, except for lung cancer in men. For ex-smokers who resumed smoking, the corresponding risk was on the whole significantly higher. Conclusions: A more valid and favourable picture of exsmokers' risk will be obtained if exposure is being based upon people with two consecutive examinations, years apart. The study confirms clearly the large health benefit of quitting smoking for good.

Tobacco smoking in older people

“…Exercise tolerance increases within days and continues to improve for at least several weeks. 25,40 The reasons for this are probably complex and multi-factorial.…”

“…Furthermore, there is evidence that the risk of some malignancies is reduced if smoking cessation is achieved in old age and maintained. 25 There are other subtle metabolic effects of smoking that become increasingly clinically important in old age. For example, proximal muscle strength and grip strength are impaired in smokers compared with non-smoker and ex-smoker controls and can improve with smoking cessation.…”

A Hospital System’s Wellness Program Linked To Health Plan Enrollment Cut Hospitalizations But Not Overall Costs

“…21 Additionally, although we do not have individual-level information about smoking cessation, it is possible that a reduction in smoking could have reduced hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease and the complications of diabetes. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] Communitywide public-area smoking bans have been associated with decreases in cardiac hospitalizations of 11.2-40.0 percent within six to twelve months. [31][32][33] Finally, the workplace-based nature of the screening process may have led to improvements in diet, exercise, or other disease self-management among people at risk for hospitalization.…”

Readiness of Accredited Social Health Activist Workers for Tobacco Cessation Counseling after a Brief Intervention in Odisha, India: A Quasi-experimental Study

“…The benefits of tobacco cessation have been well demonstrated. 7,8 Tobacco cessation reduces health risks and improves quality of life. Seeing the magnitude of tobacco problem, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, established 13 tobacco cessation clinics in 2002 in collaboration with the WHO and increased subsequently to 19 to provide tobacco cessation interventions.…”