Relation of Smoking and Age to Emphysema

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Abstract
To determine the relation of smoking habits to pulmonary emphysema, whole-lung sections were prepared from lungs removed by autopsy from 1443 men and 388 women, and smoking habits were ascertained by interviews with relatives. Among men with the same smoking habits, degree of emphysema increased with age. Of 176 men who never smoked regularly, 90.0 per cent had no emphysema; 3.8 per cent had minimal, 3.3 per cent slight, 2.9 per cent moderate, and 0 per cent advanced emphysema. Corresponding figures for 181 men who smoked one to 19 cigarettes a day were 13.1 per cent no emphysema; 16.4 per cent minimal; 33.7 per cent slight; 25.1 per cent moderate; and 11.7 per cent advanced to far advanced emphysema. Of 658 men who smoked 20 or more cigarettes, 0.3 per cent had no emphysema; 5.2 per cent had minimal, 42.6 per cent slight, 32.7 per cent moderate, and 19.2 per cent advanced emphysema. Findings in 388 women were similar. The observations once again suggest that chronic cigarette smoking leads to pulmonary emphysema.