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Fewer Heart Disease Deaths in Massachusetts as Smoking
declines
Newswise — If more states
introduce tobacco control programs for their
residents who are regular smokers, the
number of U.S. deaths due to coronary heart
disease might drop, finds a new study that
looks at an ongoing Massachusetts
initiative.
A connection exists between
coronary heart disease and cigarette
smoking, and the new study determines how a
reduction in smoking affected the number of
related deaths in Massachusetts between 1993
and 2003.
The state introduced its
Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP)
in 1992, which received funding through a
special cigarette tax, and the researchers
say they expected to find it helped control
the rate of smoking.
“California was the first
state to have a statewide program like the
MTCP and they witnessed substantial
declines,” said lead author Zubair Kabir,
M.D., who at the time of the study was a
research fellow at the Harvard School of
Public Health.
“So it was not surprising
that Massachusetts, the second state, would
see such declines as well, which reflect the
impact of a comprehensive, integrated and —
at the time — well-funded program.”
The study appears in the
August issue of the American Journal of
Public Health.
Kabir and his colleagues
examined data from daily smokers ages 25 to
84.
They found that between 1993
and 2003, coronary heart disease mortality
declined 31 percent — from 199 deaths to 137
deaths per 100,000 persons each year.
Smoking prevalence declined
from 20.5 percent to 14.5 percent
Based on these results, the
researchers calculated that 425 fewer
coronary heart disease deaths were
attributable to decreased smoking during the
10-year period.
They concluded that expanding
comprehensive tobacco control programs, such
as MTCP, to other states could avoid more
tobacco-related disease deaths.
Audrey Ferguson, health
promotions manager at the American Lung
Association of Indiana, agreed with the
authors’ conclusion.
“The American Lung
Association strongly supports comprehensive
statewide tobacco control efforts, including
increased tobacco taxes and smoke-free
workplace legislation,” she said.
“We recognize that tobacco
use does not affect just the lungs or the
heart of the tobacco user. Everyone would
see health benefits from a comprehensive
tobacco control plan.”
The MTCP was not immune to
roadblocks, however. According to Kabir,
budget cuts stalled state funding for the
program in 2002, but it is now active again.
Nevertheless, he added that,
“Although funding has risen somewhat since
2002, now around $12 million per year, it is
nowhere near the levels seen at the height
of the program in the late 90s.”
The American Journal of
Public Health is the monthly journal of
the American Public Health Association.
Visit
http://www.apha.org for more
information. Complimentary online access to
the journal is available to credentialed
members of the media. Contact Patricia Warin
at APHA, (202) 777-2511 or
patricia.warin@apha.org.
Kabir Z, et al. Coronary
heart disease deaths and decreased smoking
prevalence in Massachusetts, 1993–2003.
Am J Public Health 98(8), 2008.
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