CIGARETTE SMOKING AND ARTERIOSCLEROSIS OBLITERANS: AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC APPROACH

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Abstract
Weiss, N. S. (Dept. Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Ave., Boston, Mass. 02115). Cigarette smoking and arteriosclerosis obliterans: an epidemiologic approach. Amer J Epidemiol 95: 17–25, 1972.—Six hundred and four cases of arteriosclerosis obliterans were selected from the office of a Boston vascular surgeon; other patients of the same surgeon with clinically normal peripheral arteries served as controls. In both sexes, cigarette smoking, as ascertained from a mail questionnaire, was found to be far more prevalent among cases than controls. Risk of developing the disease rose steeply with increasing amounts smoked and was lower in ex-smokers than current smokers. The etiologic importance of smoking varied with the site and manifestation of disease, carrying the highest risk for aortoiliac occlusion with claudication. Cigarette smoking appeared to confer similar risks to both diabetics and nondiabetics. Evidence is presented to support the claim that cigarette smoking is causally associated with arteriosclerosis obliterans. It is estimated that about 70% of the disease is related to the use of cigarettes, resulting both from the high proportion of smokers in the population and the high risk smoking appears to convey to them.

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