Philip Morris
the Value of Preventive Medicine. Control of Tobacco-Related Disease
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- Peto, R.
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The value of
preventive medicine
_'stablished in
IBA-GEIGY
medical and
each year on
papers and
,n also holds
ide scientific
Ciba Foundation Symposium 110
~11 the
rides
on
in the house
UNIVERSITY of NORTH CAROLINA
1985
Pitman
London
NAR 14 1985
HEALTH SCIENCES LIBRARY

Control of tobacco-related disease
RICHARD PETO
Cancer Studies Unit, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford OX2 6HE, UK
Abstract. As ways of discouraging tobacco consumption, the effects of increases in price and
in quantitative information may have been under-emphasized. To decrease the hazards of
tobacco, switches from cigarettes to pipes, cigars or 'smokeless' tobacco may be useful, as
may a reduction in cigarette tar delivery. Indeed, the spread of existing tar level reductions
from capitalist to socialist countries might prevent tens of thousands of lung cancer deaths
each year in the early decades of the next century, and (perhaps by attempts to engineer
cigarettes so that smokers of lower tar cigarettes are less likely to "compensate' by taking
more smoke) it should eventually also be possible to change cigarettes so as also to reduce
their effects on heart and lung disease. Changes in consumption and in composition of
tobacco products are complementary, not competing, strategies. If both are pursued effec-
tively, then although the life expectancy of old people may not be much improved, the
proportion of adults who die before reaching old age will decrease substantially.
1985 The value of preventive medicine. Pitman, London ( Ciba Foundation symposium 110)
p 126-142
The obvious way to avoid tobacco-related disease is to avoid smoking, and
eventually the most important way of controlling tobacco-related disease will
be by vast reductions in the extent to which tobacco, particularly in the form of
cigarettes, is smoked. But at the moment, although cigarette consumption is
going down in certain countries, worldwide cigarette consumption is going up.
It is therefore an extremely destructive form of idealism to consider only the
discouragement of cigarette consumption but to avoid considering other ways
of modifying the extent to which cigarettes kill people. There are, at least in
principle, three different ways of reducing tobacco-related disease.
First, one may be able to modify the "host'--the smoker. Mention has been
made at this symposium of the Japanese, who appear as a nation to eat less fat
than we in Britain, and who moreover appear to eat fat with a higher "P:S ratio'
(i.e. with a higher ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fats). Although
smoking has been widely prevalent in Japan for more than 30 years, Japanese
death rates from heart disease are still, even in early middle age, very much
lower than those in the US or Britain. In other words, the absolute heart
disease risk per cigarette is much lower in Japan than in Britain or America.
126
TOBACCO-Rt
Studies of Ja:
non-genetic
A second
particular eit
some less ha:
changes in c
filter tips
envisaged.
British gove:
Health (1982-
cigarette, bt
about the c~
tobacco in a
alternatives
tobacco (inc
is, powderec
exact hazart
liminary evit
unlikely to
produced b~
the young er
The third
sumption. Ir
because wid
risks are un.
two hundred
continued to
moment, ho
must also cc
tobacco prot
on other top
consumptior
Changes in tt
Probably in,
aged: from c
haps. cigars)
consider the
merely becat

ase
lects of increases in price and
. To decreabe the hazards of
,s tobacco may be useful, as
existing tar level reductions
asands of tung cancer deaths
ups by attempts to engineer
x to "compensate" by taking
garette550 as also to reduce
,tion and in composition of
:s. If both are pursued effec-
not be much improved, the
ase substantially.
rton symposium 110)
O avoid smoking, and
co-related disease will
ticularly in the form of
zarette consumption is
nsumption is going up.
rn to consider only the
:onsidering other ways
There are, at least in
ed disease.
ker. Mention has been
a nation to eat less fat
vith a higher 'P:S ratio'
rated fats). Although
aan 30 years, Japanese
niddle age, very much
:Is, the absolute heart
n Britain or America.
TOBACCO-RELATED DISEASE
127
Studies of Japanese in America suggest that these differences are due chiefly to
non-genetic 'host factors'.
A second way is to affect the manner in which tobacco is used, and in
particular either to encourage a switch from cigarettes to the use of tobacco in
some less hazardous form, or to modify the composition of cigarettes. The chief
changes in cigarette composition thus far have involved the introduction of
filter tips and the lowering of tar levels, but other modifications could be
envisaged. One possible change was discussed in the most recent report to the
British government of the Independent Scientific Committee on Tobacco and
Health (1983). This was the possible introduction not of a low-nicotine, low-tar
cigarette, but of a medium-nicotine, low-tar cigarette. As well as thinking
about the composition of cigarettes, we should also think about the use of
tobacco in a much less hazardous form, including perhaps not only the usual
alternatives such as pipes and cigars, but also various forms of 'smokeless'
tobacco (including nasal snuff, chewing tobacco, and 'dipping' tobacco--that
is, powdered tobacco that is usually held between the gum and cheek). The
exact hazards associated with such habits are not yet known, but the pre-
liminary evidence thus far available (Winnet al 1981) suggests that they are
unlikely to be substantial in comparison with the vast mortality now being
produced by tobacco smoking (unless promotion of smokeless tobacco among
the young engenders nicotine addiction that eventually leads to smoking).
The third and most important way is, of course, to decrease tobacco cor;-
sumption. In the end, this is going to be the solution that is finally adopted,
because widespread tobacco use is (at least if the product is smoked and the
risks are understood) unacceptably hazardous. Eventually--perhaps one or
two hundred years from now--people will perhaps find it amazing that tobacco
continued to be smoked so widely in the second half of the 20th century. For the
moment, however, cigarette consumption is going up Worldwide, and so one
must also consider the first two factors (modification of the host, and of the
tobacco product being used). I will leave modification of the host to speakers
on other topics, however, and will be concerned only with the composition and
consumption of tobacco products.
Changes in the way in which tobacco is used
Probably in decreasing order of efficacy, three types of change may be envis-
aged: from cigarettes to smokeless tobacco, from cigarettes to pipes (or, per-
haps, cigars), and from more hazardous to less hazardous cigarettes. I shall
consider the latter at greatest length, not because it is the most effective, but
merely because politically it may be the easiest to achieve.

128
PETO TOB~~
Smokeless tobacco
In the South-Eastern United States, many women have, throughout their adult
lives, habitually 'dipped snuff--that is to say, they have placed powdered
tobacco between the gum and cheek, and have thereby absorbed a number
of pharmacologically active substances. It is noteworthy that among snuff-
dippers in the South-Eastern US. the proportion who smoke (15%) is much
lower than that among other women (45%) (Winn et al 1981). Moreover, even
among those who do smoke the consumption of cigarettes per smoker is slightly
lower among the "dippers'. These observations suggest that snuff dipping
discourages smoking in that particular population, giving some hope that it
might also do so elsewhere. Vigorous commercial promotion of snuff dipping
has begun in America, and is just beginning in Europe. If this or some other
such habit were to become widespread and did to any substantial extent replace
smoking (particularly of cigarettes), then the net effect would be likely to be a
reduction in tobacco-induced mortality. For, although snuff dipping causes a
vast increase in the relative risk of cancer of the gum and cheek (together with
the same sort of risks of cancers of other parts of the mouth that smoking
produces), the absolute excess risks of death from oral cancer associated with
the habit in the South-Eastern United States appear to be at most a few per cent
of the total risk of death produced by cigarette smoking (Winn et al 1981).
Although the absolute risks in other populations might, of course, be con-
siderably different (especially if some diseases other than oral cancer are found
to be increased by tobacco 'dipping'), the use of smokeless tobacco is still likely
to be much less hazardous than is tobacco smoking, especially of cigarettes.
Switch of smoking from cigarettes to pipes and/or cigars
In prospective observations of male British doctors, (i) lifelong non-smokers,
(ii) men who currently smoked only pipes and/or cigars (most of whom
smoked only pipes), and (iii) men who currently smoked cigarettes had age-
standardized death rates in the ratio 1: 1.09:1.64 (Doll & Peto 1976). This may
not exactly reflect the relative hazards of the two forms of tobacco, but, to-
gether with much other evidence, it does correctly suggest that habitual use of
pipes is much less hazardous than is habitual use of cigarettes. Since, more-
over, about half of the men who smoked only pipes and/or cigars had pre-
viously smoked at least some cigarettes, it also strongly suggests that a wide-
spread switch from cigarettes to pipes could save many lives, even though men
who switch may inhale their pipe smoke in ways that are more hazardous than
the usual inhalation patterns among lifelong pipe smokers.
Chan
Sever
prod1
takin
This
effec~
smok
lung
than ~
less h
Thirc
cigar
Th
cflnc~
evidt
the
cigar
(i) L
Lun
smo
adul
of c:
age
age
redti
rele
193~
(i.e
Scar
195t
per
the
por,
to e
unl~
corf

PETO
hroughout their adult
rye placed powdered
absorbed a number
iv that among snuff-
moke (1597) is much
~81). Moreover, even
per smoker is slightly
,t that snuff dipping
ng some hope that it
orion of snuff dipping
If this or some other
atantial extent replace
ould be likely to be a
auff dipping causes a
cheek (together with
mouth that smoking
incer associated with
at most a few per cent
g (Winn et al 1981).
. li~ourse, be con-
3~lncer are found
; to5-acco is still likely
ially of cigarettes.
.-'elong non-smokers,
ars (most of whom
l cigarettes had age-
)eto 1976). This may
of tobacco, but, to-
that habitual use of
rettes. Since, more-
l/or cigars had pre-
uggests that a wide-
Is, even though men
rare hazardous than
TOBACCO-RELATED DISEASE
129
Changing the composition of cigarettes
Several questions are relevant. First, scientifically, how can a cigarette be
produced that is less hazardous in use? (N.B. Smokers tend to 'compensate' by
taking more smoke from today's low-tar than from the old high-tar cigarettes.)
This first question may conveniently be divided into (a) assessment of the
effects of changes that have already been introdiaced on the three principal
smoking-related diseases (lung cancer, heart disease, and chronic obstructive
lung disease), and (b) design of cigarettes that are likely to be less hazardous
than those currently being sold. Second, politically, how can the switch towards
less hazardous cigarettes be encouraged in Western and in Eastern countries?
Third, psychologically, to what extent (if any) will the pursuit of less hazardous
cigarettes impede measures to reduce cigarette sales?
The three main diseases associated with cigarette smoking are (i) lung
cancer, (ii) heart disease, and (iii) chronic obstructive lung disease. For lung
cancer, but not for the other two diseases, there is now reasonably good
evidence that the changes in cigarette composition that have taken place over
the last few decades in Western countries have reduced the hazard per
cigarette.
(i) Lung cancer
Lung cancer risks in adult life depend surprisingly strongly not only on recent
smoking habits, but also on smoking habits many decades beforehand, in early
adult life. Thus, for example, among 60-year-old habitual smokers of one pack
of cigarettes per day, those who began to smoke cigarettes regularly at about
age 15 have more than twice the lung cancer risks of those who began at about
age 25 (Doll & Peto 1981, Appendix E). This suggests that if the tar level
reductions have any worthwhile effect, then tar levels in early adult life may be
relevant to lung cancer risks in middle age, mar.y decades later. Between the
1930s and the 1970s there have been reductions of more than 50% in the mean
(i.e. sales-weighted) tar delivery per cigarette in the United States, Britain,
Scandinavia, and a few other places. These changes were small until the late
1950s and then they suddenly became rapid, with decreases from 30-odd mg
per cigarette in the mid-1950s down to approximately 15 mg per cigarette by
the 1970s. The changes are not expensive and involve the use of filter-tips,
porous paper (or even. as an extreme measure, 'ventilated' filters that allow air
to enter into the side of the filter to dilute the smoke) and modified types of
tobacco (which may in some instances actually be less .expensive than
unmodified tobacco). There is, of course, a reduction not only in the unwanted
components of the smoke but also in those substances (e.g. nicotine?) to which

130 PETO
TOBACCO-RE[
some smokers are addicted, and when such reductions occur many smokers are
likely to compensate, either by smoking more cigarettes* or, perhaps more
commonly, by taking in more smoke per cigaretteS-. It appears, however, that
the latter form of compensation is not always sufficient to outweigh the reduc-
tion in tar (Wald et a11980), in which case the net result will be inhalation of less
tar into the lung. This conclusion is suggested both by common sense and by
observation, but even if it is accepted it does not prove that the hazards will be
correspondingly reduced, for despite some 30 years of laboratory research the
importantly carcinogenic factors in cigarette smoke have not yet been
identified reliably. Moreover, it is difficult to predict how changed patterns of
inhalation will change what is deposited on the main target areas--which, for
lung cancer, are not the peripheral tissues, but the large airways--as the smoke
streams past them. Consequently. it is necessary to discover by direct epidem-
iological observation whether the risks of lung cancer are materially reduced by
the widespread switch to lower tar cigarettes. Unfortunately, this is not easy to
do, for not only are smokers of low-tar brands self-selected but also, just as it is
only after some decades of smoking that the full risks materialize, so perhaps it
is only after some decades of using low-tar cigarettes that the full risk avoidance
will materialize. Therefore, even if the effects in late middle age will one day be
substantial, they may not yet be. Any substantial effects that are going to
materialize in early middle age should be beginning to be evident by now in
Britain, however, for although the tar reductions of the 1950s were only
moderate, those of the 1960s were substantial in Britain, North America and
Scandinavia. Thus, a 40-year-old in 1980 will have been smoking from about
1960 to 1980, throughout most of which time tar levels were substantially lower
than in previous decades.
Two main pieces of epidemiological evidence are currently available, the
first being the results from classical case--control or prospective surveys. Unfor-
* In principle, tar reductions could either increase or decrease the number of people who smoke
(by making it less of an ordeal for non-smokers to acquire the habit or by making the habit less
addictive) and could either increase or decrease the number of cigarettes one individual smoker
consumes (by increasing the number needed to achieve a given dose or by decreasing the satisfac-
tion per cigarette). In practice, however, the patterns of cigarette consumption in different coun-
tries do not appear to be influenced consistently in either direction by changes in cigarette
composition.
"1" Surprisingly, there appears to be little reliable information on which of the many
characteristics
of the cigarette (e.g. nicotine, draw resistance, taste) importantly affect 'compensation'. If these
could be identified and modified (e.g. by increasing the nicotine delivery, draw resistance or
whatever of low-tar cigarettes), then maybe the intake of many toxins could be decreased simul-
taneously. Such compensation presumably underlies the recent disappointing finding by Kaufman
et al (1983) that the risks of myocardial infarction are not materially different among smokers of
different types of cigarette.
tunately, such
relate chiefly t
and even rece
cigarettes for~
bated in studi~
the tar reducti.
less extreme, t
overall tar lev~
concurrent co
with people o
brands. Despi
all the case-c~
that:
'a reasonabl
tar/nicotine
tar/nicotine
smoking..
smoked the
smoking liv~
even greate:
improve ev~
Because of,
concurrently,
early middle a~
tes for much o
can be supplen
the study of na
(Doll & Peto
those from tht
reductions are
from the delay
better to use t!
began), Britist~
mately stabiliz
and the reduct
from changes i
likely to be far
in early middle
Moreover, bot
accelerating dc
the next decad

PETO
TOBACCO-RELATED DISEASE
131
, smokers are
,erhaps more
~owever, that
~h the reduc-
~lation of less
.,ense and by
tzards will be
research the
ot yet been
~d patterns of
s--which, for
-as the smoke
:.irect epidem-
'ly reduced by
is not easy to
,o. just as it is
so perhaps it
isk avoidance
ill one day be
are going to
.nt by now in
re only
and
g from about
antially lower
tvailable, the
rveys. Unfor-
ople who smoke
ng the habit less
dividual smoker
sing the satisfac-
~ different coun-
ges in cigarette
ty characteristics
~sation'. If these
aw resistance or
:lecreased simul-
ling by Kaufman
nong smokers of
tunately, such data as are currently available are limited by the fact that they
relate chiefly to late middle or old age. when most of the lung cancers occur,
and even recent studies relate chiefly to people who have smoked low-tar
cigarettes for only a fraction of their smoking lives. This difficulty is exacer-
bated in studies performed during the 1960s (or early 1970s) by the fact that
the tar reductions then available for study were not only more recent, but also
less extreme, than those now available. A related source bf difficulty is that as
overall tar levels decrease, the higher tar levels simply cease to exist, so direct
concurrent comparison of people now on low-tar cigarettes can be only
with people on moderate-tar cigarettes, and not on the old very high tar
brands. Despite these difficulties, when Lee & Garfinkel (198I) reviewed
all the case-control and prospective studies then available they concluded
that:
'a reasonably clear picture has emerged. This is that smokers of filter (or low
tar/nicotine) cigarettes have a lower mortality than smokers of plain (or high
tar/nicotine) cigarettes for those diseases most strongly associated with
smoking... These reductions in mortality have been seen in those who have
smoked the more modern types of cigarettes for only a small part of their
smoking lives. The fact that those who have smoked them for longer show
even greater reductions in mortality suggests that the overall picture will
improve even more in years to come."
Because of difficulties of self-selection, of comparing the new with the old
concurrently, and of characterizing individuals' recent lung cancer rates in
early middle age (i.e. the rates among people who have smoked low-tar cigaret-
tes for much of their adult lives), the case-control and prospective survey data
can be supplemented usefully by a second type of epidemiological data, namely
the study of national trends in early middle age. However, for obvious reasons
(Doll & Peto 1981). it is not advisable to use for this purpose data (such as
those from the United States) in which any downward trends caused by tar
reductions are likely to be diluted or even reversed by upward trends resulting
from the delayed effects of past increases in tobacco consumption. Instead, it is
better to use the British data. For, by the 1950s (when the rapid tar decreases
began), British male lung cancer rates in early middle age had already approxi-
mately stabilized (Table 1). Table 1 also describes their subsequent evolution,
and the reductions are extremely impressive. They are most unlikely to result
from changes in air pollution, for not only are any effects of the air pollution
likely to be far smaller than this (Cederlrf et al 1978), but also similar halvings
in early middle age have been seen over the last 20 years in unpolluted Finland.
Moreover, both in Finland and in Britain the changes appear, if an.vthin~, to be
accelerating downward, so if this pattern carries on into late middle age during
the next decade or two, then at least in these two countries (where the male

132 PETO
TABLE 1 Recent trends in England and Wales in male lung cancer death certification rates in early
middle age"'b
Death certification rates per million men from cancers
of the respirator),' tract, excluding larynx
Age 1951-1955 1956-1960 1983 Ratio
(yrs) la) (b) (c) (c/b)
30-34 38c 37c 10 0.3
35-39 101’ 95c 37 0.4
40-44 253c ~6~ 112 0.4
45-49 589’ 597~ 2950 0.5
Note both the approximate constancy before tar deliveries began to be greatly reduced and the
large decrease thereafter.
b Note:
(1) These trends are not materially affected by changes in curative treatment of the disease.
(2) Sales-weighted tar levels started to fail rapidly only at the end of the 1950s but are now less
than
half of what they then were.
(3) Mean daily cigarette consumption per British male aged 30-50 did not change greatly until the
past few years, and in 1955, 1965 and 1975 was respectively 10.5, 9.9 and 10.2 (Lee 1976): the
10-20% decrease in consumption that existed in the second half of the 1970s is too small and too
late to be chiefly responsible for the large decreases in lung cancer mortality rates in 1983.
(4) In unpolluted Finland, where male cigarette smoking also began so long ago that the trends had
nearly flattened out by the late 1950s, male lung cancer rates in early middle age have likewise
been
approximately halved over the past 20 years, and in both countries the decreases appear, if
anything, to be accelerating. (In Finland, as in Britain, no large changes in cigarette consumption
were evident before the mid-1970s.)
’ High mean tar intake throughout smoking history.
d High intake only in first decade or so of smoking history.
death rates are at present uniquely high) lung cancer may some day decrease
for a few years* as fast as it once increased.
(ii) Heart disease
Perhaps because of the substantial extent to which smokers 'compensate' for
tar delivery reductions, there is disappointingly little evidence of any favour-
able effect of such reductions on heart disease. The studies reviewed by Lee &
Garfinkel (1981) did in aggregate suggest some slight benefit, but the rather
* It will not decrease to anywhere near non-smoker rates, however, unless there is widespread
abandonment of cigarette smoking. Similarly, in those other populations where lung cancer rates
have not yet completed their rise, even a tar-level reduction that halves the carcinogenicity of
cigarettes may merely slow, rather than reverse, the progressive increase of the disease over the
next few decades.
TOBACCO
better stuc
no evident
cancer ris
numbers o
rarity of ti
slight but v
disease (ai
chief need
tunately, t
vestigated.
If so, a I
hazardous
responsiblt
ants, dra~
importantl
minimize t
This 'bla
tant carci~
disease firs
by random
modified t\
The effe~
smoker is ~
she will ta
difference
study phar~
twice as mt
There max
only a fe~
nicotine, d,
cigarette t~
tive lung di
(iii) Chron,
COLD is a
ponse relat
disease ma~
rates are ri
that if we d
should be a

PETO
ifieation rates in early
Rtltlo
tc b~
o.3
0.4
(}.4
0.5
:atb reduced and the
of the di.~ease.
but are nov, less than
~nge greatly until the
10.2 {Lee 1976): the
, is too small and too
tv rates in 1983.
:o that the trends had
.,e have likewise been
decreases appear, if
garette consumption
ne day decrease
:ompensate' for
.~ of any favour-
iewed by Lee &
but the rather
there is widespread
re lung cancer rates
: carcinogenicity of
he disease over the
TOBACCO-RELATED DISEASE
133
better stud)' of Kaufman et al (1983) suggests none. At least, however, there is
no evidence of any adverse effect to set against the apparent reductions in lung
cancer risk. and perhaps larger case-control studies, with even greater
numbers of people in early middle age (i.e. in their forties or even, despite the
rarity of the disease among young adults, in their thirties) will reveal some
slight but worthwhile differences between one cigarette and another. For heart
disease (and, probably, for chronic obstructive lung disease), however, the
chief need is to design a cigarette that will minimize 'compensation'. Unfor-
tunately, the exact determinants of compensation have not been properly in-
vestigated. Perhaps. for example, many smokers smoke largely for nicotine.
If so, a medium-nicotine, low-tar cigarette might be substantially less
hazardous (for there is some evidence that nicotine itself is not chiefly
responsible for the cardiotoxicity of cigarettes). Alternatively, perhaps flavor-
ants, draw resistance, acidity variations or other manipulable factors might
importantly affect "compensation', and might therefore be modifiable to
minimize the amount of smoke taken per cigarette.
This "black box" approach to cigarette design does not require that the impor-
tant carcinogens, cardiotoxic agents and causes of chronic obstructive lung
disease first be identified, and hence it could be pursued immediately, perhaps
by randomized trials measuring compensation in smokers of various suitably
modified types of cigarette.
The effects of changes in tar delivery on compensation are quite marked: if a
smoker is given a high-to-medium tar cigarette and a low-tar cigarette, he or
she will take twice as much smoke from the low-tar cigarette. A twofold
difference like that which occurs immediately, should be relatively easy to
study pharmacologically. What ingredient in the smoke tells the smoker to take
twice as much from it? Is it the nicotine? Is it the draw resistance? Is it the taste?
There may be several determinants of compensation, but there are probably
only a few major ones. If we could identify one or two of them that, like
nicotine, don't appear to be important toxins, it should be possible to produce a
cigarette that would give less risk of lung cancer and less risk of chronic obstruc-
tive lung disease.
(iii) Chronic obstructive lung disease (COLD)
COLD is as specifically related to smoking as is lung cancer, as the dose-res-
ponse relationship among British doctors shows (Doll & Peto 1976). This
disease may be decreasing in Britain, but in some countries, such as the US, the
rates are rising rapidly. The dose-response relationship for COLD suggests
that if we decrease the extent to which people take smoke from cigarettes, we
should be able to produce a cigarette conferring less hazard of this disease. It is

134 PETO
TOBACCO-REL.
difficult to test this directly, however, because of the natural history of COLD
(Peto et al 1983). We cannot use the approach used on trends for lung cancer,
because although almost all cases are caused by tobacco, there are other impor-
tant determinants of chronic obstructive lung disease. At a time when there
were few marked differences in the smoking habits of the different social classes
in the UK, COLD was much more common as a certified cau_se of death in the
lower than in the upper social classes, in both men and women. Since then,
from the late 1960s to the late 1970s, death rates among middle-aged men have
halved from this disease in Britain, and are continuing to fall. It is very difficult
to produce a specific explanation for these trends. One cannot confidently
ascribe them to changes in cigarette composition. Air pollution decreases pro-
vide an obvious explanation, but I am not sure that it is the correct one.
Thus, the study of national mortality trends may not be directly informative
about the effects of the post-1960 changes in cigarette composition on COLD
mortality. Classical case-control studies are likely to be even less informa-
tive-indeed, since severe COLD decreases cigarette use, they might even
yield the inverse of the truth. A possible compromise might be to study the
relationship between cigarette composition and the one-second Forced Expira-
tory Volume (FEV) in early middle age (e.g. 35-44), before the FEV had got
low enough to have much effect on smoking habits, but no recent such study has
attempted this.
Thus, for COLD, there is as yet no direct assessment, on an individual basis,
of whether there are any important differences in the disease onset rates (i.e. in
FEV loss) that are produced by different types of cigarette. In any case, even if
there were, one would still not know which components of smoke were chiefly
responsible. So, the above recommendations for seeking ways of producing
decreases in compensation (with respect to all but a few smoke components)
may be the most immediately promising means of cigarette modification to
explore, for COLD as for heart disease.
Changes in the amount of tobacco used
Although the type of change in cigarette composition that has been introduced
over the past few decades may reduce the risk of death per cigarette by a small
but worthwhile amount, and although experimental investigation of the physi-
cal and pharmacological determinants of compensation may lead to the design
of cigarettes with still lower risks, cigarettes are still likely to kill about 20 or
30% of those who use them regularly. Effective discouragement of their use is
difficult (and, in different countries, these difficulties may be quite different),
but it is so uniquely worthwhile that it deserves even more attention than it
gets.
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