Tom Heston MD: Impact of smoking and smoking cessation on cardiovascular events and mortality among older adults: meta-analysis of individual participant data from prospective cohort studies of the CHANCES consortium.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Impact of smoking and smoking cessation on cardiovascular events and mortality among older adults: meta-analysis of individual participant data from prospective cohort studies of the CHANCES consortium.

Current smokers have twice the risk of cardiovascular mortality compared with never smokers. Former smokers have about a 37% increased risk of cardiovascular mortality compared to never smokers. The excess risk in smokers was positively correlated with number of cigarettes smoked per day. The excess risk in former smokers decreased continuously with time since smoking cessation. (BMJ. 2015 Apr 20;350:h1551.)