American Thoracic Society journal news tips for August (fi...( Smoking cessation associated with s...),Health

Smoking cessation was associated with significant reductions in fatal or nonfatal cardiovascular disease and coronary artery disease among participants in the 5-year Lung Health Study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Researchers revealed that smoking among the 5,887 participants, as shown at their annual follow-up visit, was associated with a 50 to 70 percent higher hazard rates for death, cardiovascular disease, and coronary disease than were rates for non-smokers. The Lung Health Study was a cooperative, 10-center randomized trial involving smokers, ages 35 to 60, who did not regard themselves as ill but who had mild to moderate lung impairment at the start of the study. Participants were placed randomly in one of three groups: smoking intervention plus drug inhaler (1,961 participants); smoking intervention plus placebo inhaler (1,962 study members); and usual care (1,964 patients). In the smoking intervention groups, which included both drug and placebo inhalers, over 21 percent of the participants achieved long-term smoking cessation success, versus only 5.4 percent in the usual care group. The 149 fatal events, approximately 25 percent of which were caused either by coronary heart disease or other cardiovascular illnesses, were less common in the smoking intervention, plus placebo inhaler group. The study appears in the first issue for August 2002 of the American Thoracic Society's peer-reviewed American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Significantly improved survival in intensive care for hiv patients

A patient infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) who is admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) in this era of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has a markedly improved survival rate. The survival rate to hospital discharge of HIV-infected patients has improved significantly from early
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Contact: Cathy Carlomagno
ccarlomagno@thoracic.org
212-315-6442
American Thoracic Society
5-Aug-2002