Key points from article :
Using data from the China Kadoorie Biobank, researchers assessed the health effects of tobacco smoking on death and hospitalization.
Among 512,000 participants, 32.4% had ever smoked regularly; this was much higher in men (~74%) than women (~3%).
During 11-year follow up period, more than 48,800 participants died and around 1.14 million new disease events occurred.
Among 85 causes of death and 480 diseases, smoking was associated with high risks of 22 causes of death (men, 17; women, 9) and 56 individual diseases (men, 50; women, 24) across all body systems
Men who ever smoked regularly had ~10% higher risk of developing any disease, and had more frequent and longer stays in hospital.
Men who were regular smokers and lived in urban areas have a higher risk of death.
19.6% of male (urban, 24.3%; rural, 16.2%) and 2·8% of female deaths were attributed to having smoked regularly.
Female smokers had comparable relative risks of major respiratory diseases, demonstrating a special vulnerability from tobacco.
Smokers of either sex were likely to die at a median of 3.5 years earlier.
People who stopped smoking voluntarily found to have similar levels of risk of developing disease as people who had never smoked.
Future research to monitor the rising burden of smoking in China, and in other LMICs which face similar tobacco epidemics.
Study by Oxford Population Health, Peking University and the CAMS, published in The Lancet Public Health.
