Tobacco Documents Online

,`Statisticat Assoeiation' Cited ~ A" H• A'ss recognition of the ; need for continued research in ; this area of cardiovascular dis- ease and tobacco use. We will Reavy Cigarette Smokers continue, as in the past, to offer our fullest' co-operation in this effort. Research results in autioned by Heart Group the past few years have shown that•many previous ideas about m „ By Philip S. Cook laged menwere found to be from tobacco!s effect on the cardio- The American Heart Associa- tion warned In a report issued yesterday that heavy cigarette smoking may contribute :o or ~ ;.hasten the development of coro- 'nary heart disease. 'v`.' In Its most definitive state- `ment to date on the possible connectioa between amoking and the nation's leading cause of death and disability, the as- -sociation stopped considerably short' of flnding any direct cause-and-effect relationship. N ' Said the report: "Up to the present, a number of inedicaU studies have been made, nearly all demonstrating a statistical association between' heavy cigarette smoking an mortality (death) or morbidity Wlness) from coronary heart -diaeaae. In these studies, death rates from coronary heart dia- esas (lteart attacks) In middla- 50 to 150 per cent higher among vascular system were wrong. " heavy cigarette smokers thanParticularly significant is the among those who do not smokee recognition by the A. H. A. that This statistical association does biological and medical research does not support the Idea not' prove that heavy cigarette of a causal relationship between smoking causes coronary heart smoking and coronary heart disease, but the data strongly disease;' y~.^„ suggest that heavy cigarette ;' ;`The A.~ P A. Report smoking may contribute to or ^ accelerate the development of The A. H. A. report, which coronary heart disease or its was made public by Dr. A. Carl- complications:' ton Ernstene, association presi- dent, was prepared by a special' I Timothy V. Hartnett, chair- ad hoc committee on smoking man of the Tobacco Industry headed by Dr. Louis N. Katz, iZesearch Committee, aaid ia chief of the cardiovascular de- a statement: partment, Michael Reese Hos- "The American Heart As• pitai, Chicago, and a former soeiation's new statement oa A. H. A. president. It was ap- smoking raises Its own ques- proved by. the association's tions and doubts The state- board of directors here Satur- .ment admits lack of evidence day at a semi-annual meeting tobacco use in the at the Sheraton-Atlantic Hotel. to implicate development of cardiovascula~ The board recommended that disease. - ~ the full report, together with "Wa certainly, welcome the supporting documentation, be published officially in the July fssue of "" Circulation, the as- aociation's monthly scientific journal, and released to the public at the same time. "A misleading and unauthor- ized release on the- statement Gigareucs and Heart Uisease— The American Heart Association in a recent statement warning that heavy ciga- rette smoking may contribute to or hasten the development of coronary heart discase doesn't' pretend to have proof of any definite _And direct cause-and-effect relationship. Yet the concern shown by the association in its studies on coronary ailments suggests that its observations deserve serious consid- eration. "Up to the present," the association said, "a number of medical studies have been rnade; nearly all demonstrating a statistical association between heavy cigarette smok- JPg and mortality (death) or morbidity (illness) from coronary heart disease. In these studies, death rates from coronary heart disease (heart attack) in middle aged '- rben were found to be from 50 to 150 per cent higher among heavy cigarette smokers than among those who do not smoke. This s~atistical association does not' prove that heavy cigarette smoking causes coronary heart disease, but the data strongly suggest that' heavy cigarette smoking may contrib• ute to or accelerate the development of coronary heart disease or its complications." . The Heart' Association makes it clear that !`stati'stical association" does not in itself prove that' the cigarette is to blame: And in many studies which have been made in recent years no positive, clear-cut link be- t*vePn cigarette smoking and coronary dis- eibse has been established. .As a rule, the cigarette-heart- disease re- ports emphasize "heawy" smoking. This, of caursE~, may mean one thing to certain smokers and something else to offiers. How- ever, the cigarette smo~ker should get from the association's warning and from the rrYany prevto,us discussionsof cigarettes and their possible relation to heart troubles the general idea that i£ one • must smoke, he should do so with modrerAtion.. Wliile there is still no ex- perimental or laboratory proof of a causal relationship be- = tween cigarette smoking and heart disease, Dr. Ernstene said, the public should ca.re- iully weigh the statistical as- sociation apparent in recent itudies. He urged individuals wishing advice regarding their use of cigarettes to be guided by their physicians. Medical advice is particu:arly important for persons with a history of heart or biood-vessel, disease, Dr. Ernstene said. The Katz committee re- portedly looked Into a dozen scientific studies which in- eluded data relating to smok- ~ ..-.,, ing and heart disease. The committee members then rec- ommended that the A. H. A. 'ql undertake a campaign to dis- courage smoking among teen- •" agers and persons known to be `~t~ , susceptible to heart trouble ~~ The group also urged an aggres sive program of continued re search into the issue ; After lengthy discussion at ` two general meetings, the 120- . man board of directors of the Heart Association decided that the Katz committee report should be limited strictly to- lscientific data. In the absence of a clear-cut causal relation- ship between cigarette smoking and heart disease any more ad- vanced position would be pre- mature, the board felt • ~ ' Katz Is Silent g .p... tl~r~ 1O11'Uu`YU'~ Moreover, an association spokesman said yesterday the directors were convinced that both a broad educationai cam- paign and any majpr new study devoted solFly to proving or dia- proving a causal relationship between smoking and heart disease would be beyond . the' means of the association. Dr. George E. Wakerlin, the,'asso K" ciation's research director, feels that a proper scientific study would cost "=1,000;000 or more : „ - a year. When reached by telephone ' C;: at his Chicago office yesterday, -~; D K t d li d t "~ s z to . r. ee ne commen s The policy of the American Heart Association, Dr. Wakerlin ~`, ~ „ ~,.,• b N York new a er sald, has been to avoid dic- y a ew ~ p '~'tating" the type of research now makes it necessary, in the public interest, to issue the performed by the nation's sci- official statement," Dr. Ern- entists. The association, he said, f t t 1 ted stene said. pre ers o suppor se ec ac- ( tivities put forth by the scien- Statistical Relation I tists themselves. I It will con- tinue this pattern in the com- ing fiscal year starting July 1, when the A. H. A. and Its af- filiated state and local chapters jointly devote more than =9,- 000,000 in support of research. . A spokesman for the tobacco ` research group noted that the A. H. A: s statempt states clearly that the stabistical as- soeiation reported in sorne sur- veys "does not prove that heavy cigarette smrking causes coro- nary heart disease." NE[J YORK HERALD TRIBUNE New York, New York June 7, 1960