BMJ  2004;328:1507 (26 June), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7455.1507

Editorial

New insights from the British doctors study

Risks for persistent smoking are substantially larger than previously suspected

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The cause of the sharp increase in lung cancer rates that began early in the last century was not well established until Richard Doll and colleagues presented the initial findings from the British doctors study exactly 50 years ago.¹ That paper and the updates that followed provided irrefutable evidence showing the extraordinarily adverse health consequences of cigarette smoking. The current report represents far more than a celebratory milestone in public health.²

With the extended follow up of the British doctors cohort, this new report provides critical new information and convincingly shows that the risks for persistent cigarette smoking are actually substantially larger than had previously been suspected. Indeed, this study shows that about half to two thirds of all persistent cigarette smokers will eventually be killed by their habit. This study shows that with successive age cohorts, reflecting earlier ages at initiation, the death rates among persistent smokers climb dramatically. . . . [Full text of this article]

Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Building, Room 904, Boston 02115 USA (meir.stampfer@channing.harvard.edu)

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Rapid Responses:

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Uninformed editorial

Jeffrey R Johnstone
bmj.com, 30 Jun 2004 [Full text]

BMJ front cover June 26 2004

Miles Weatherall
bmj.com, 30 Jun 2004 [Full text]

Re: Uninformed editorial

George F Sedlacek
bmj.com, 30 Jun 2004 [Full text]

Re: BMJ front cover June 26 2004

Trish Groves
bmj.com, 1 Jul 2004 [Full text]