Commentary: Mendelian randomization study of tobacco smoking and cardiovascular risk factors: Hazards of tobacco smoking greatly outweigh any benefits

摘要

Tobacco smoking is a major cause of adult mortality worldwide.1 On average about 50% of young men and 10% of young women are current smokers. Whereas tobacco smoking accounted for about 5 million deaths in 2010, this could double and result in 10 million deaths in a few decades from now, when the current smokers reach middle and old age.1 Prospective studies in the UK, USA, Japan and India have examined the effects on mortality in populations of men and of women who began to smoke in early adult life and persisted. These publications demonstrated that, in middle age, mortality among cigarette smokers was two to three times the mortality among otherwise similar persons who had never smoked, leading to a reduction in life span by an average of about 10 years.