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medpundit |
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Friday, March 21, 2003Analyzing data from a lung cancer prevention study of 18,314 people, researchers discovered lung cancer could be accurately predicted based on a person's age, gender and the number of cigarettes smoked per day. For example, Bach said, a 51-year-old woman who smoked a pack a day for 29 years but hasn't smoked for the last nine had a 0.8 percent risk of lung cancer, less than 1 in 100 over the next decade. By comparison, a 68-year-old man who has smoked two packs a day for 50 years - and continues to smoke - has a 1 in 7 risk. This is new? For years, doctors have expressed a patient's health risk by the number of cigarettes they smoke. We refer to people having a "40 pack year history of smoking" which could be a pack a day for forty years, two packs a day for twenty years, or four packs a day for ten years. I guess associating it with a mathematical model gives it more credence. posted by Sydney on 3/21/2003 08:26:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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