Smoking Cessation and Changes in Respiratory Symptoms in Two Populations Followed for 13 Years

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Abstract
To investigate the relationship between persistence and incidence rates of respiratory symptoms, and the cession of cigarette smoking, the data from longitudinal studies conducted in Cracow, Poland and Tucson, USA were analysed jointly. Among 1722 subjects smoking at the beginning of the study, 468 had given up smoking at the 13-year followup. The persistence and incidence rat- of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze and attacks of breathleasnesa were reduced by 60% in ex-smokers compared to the subjects continuing to smoke. The beneficial effects of smoking cessation were decreased in subjects smoking more cigarettes per day in the past and starting to smoke at a younger age. The symptoms were leas likely if smoking ceased before the onset of any respiratory disease. These reaults were similar in the Cracow and Tucson populations, confirming the universal nature of the observations.

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