Cigarette smoking habits of patients with coronary heart disease.

Abstract

The cigarette smoking habits of 326 male patients under 60 years with coronary heart disease have been studied and compared to the smoking habits of the general Irish male population. There was a deficiency of non-smokers and ex-smokers amongst the patients, and they were found to smoke more than twice as heavily as the general population. These results correspond closely to the findings in some reported prospective surveys. The significance of the association between cigarette smoking and coronary heart disease is discussed. If the association is a causative one, cigarette smoking must be heavily implicated as a cause of this disease in the younger age-groups. Predictions are made about future changes in morbidity and mortality from coronary disease in these islands.