At least one in four smokers will develop the incurable lung condition, chronic obstructive pulmonar...
At least one in four smokers will develop the incurable lung condition, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), recent research has found.
A study undertaken by UK and Danish researchers of over 8,000 people, between the ages of 30 and 60, over a 25-year period showed that while COPD is common among adults in England it is predominantly undiagnosed.
It found that over the 25-year span, 2,900 people died, with 109 dying from COPD. Nine out of 10 who died were smokers at the start of the study, while just two non-smokers died of the disease.
The risk from smoking was reduced in those who gave up smoking early on in the study. None of the ex-smokers developed severe COPD and only seven died.
Commenting on the research, doctor of cardiology and respiratory disease, Peter Lange, who led the research at Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark, said: "Our main finding is quite simple - the longer people smoke, the higher the risk of developing COPD."
The British Heart Foundation has argued that there is evidence of significantly improved health in bar workers in Scotland, a few months after the introduction of smoke-free legislation, suggesting the Government should follow suit as soon as possible.
In the Journal of the American Medical Association, Peter Hollins, chief executive at the British Heart Foundation, said: "When added to the already strong evidence of the damage passive smoking causes, the speed and scale of health improvement shown should finally silence the few remaining critics of smoke-free legislation."
COPD is the fourth most common cause of death worldwide and is caused primarily by cigarette smoking.
