Women's smoking death risk 'highest ever'

Conclusion This large-scale research adds to the already prodigious amount of evidence on the risks that come from smoking. This research estimates the risk of death among smokers, and examines trends in this risk over time and by gender. There are difficulties, however, in teasing apart just what the figures mean. Multiple risk factors contribute to risk of death Several factors influence the relative risk of death between smokers and non-smokers, including background rates of mortality from smoking-related illnesses. An increase in relative risks of death from smoking-related illnesses could be attributable to certain smoking behaviours (such as increased smoking among females, or changes in types of cigarettes smoked) that increase the risk among smokers. However, in the case of all-cause mortality, this relative increase appears to be due to a reduction in overall mortality among non-smokers, as opposed to an increase in overall mortality among smokers. In the case of lung cancer, however, this relative increase appears to be due to a steep increase in the absolute risk of lung cancer death among female smokers, compared to a more modest increase in female non-smokers. Difficulty directly comparing the data In addition to difficulties in interpreting the figures presented in the media, there are some limitations to the research methods that should be considered. For instance, each of the cohort studies assessed smoking status at different time points. While the 2000-10 ...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Heart/lungs Lifestyle/exercise Source Type: news