title: Smoking, smoking cessation and aortic arch calcification in older Chinese: the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the association between smoking, smoking cessation and aortic arc calcification (AAC) in an older Chinese population.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 3022 men and 7279 women aged 50-85 years were recruited and received a medical check-up including measurement of fasting plasma vascular risk factors. Two radiologists reviewed the posterior-anterior plain chest X-ray radiographs and assessed AAC together. Information on smoking status, socioeconomic and lifestyle factors was collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The crude prevalence of AAC in men (38.58%) was lower than that in women (41.37%). The adjusted odds ratios of AAC increased significantly across never, ex- and current smokers in both genders. Dose-response relationships were observed among current smokers for smoking amount (cigarettes/day), smoking duration (years) and cigarette pack-years in both genders (all p<0.01). The odds ratios decreased significantly (p=0.018) with longer duration of quitting in light ex-smoking men (<23.5 pack-years) but showed no beneficial effect (p=0.72) for heavy ex-smokers (>or=23.5 pack-years).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Smoking increased the risk of AAC in Chinese, while smoking cessation decreased the risk only in male light ex-smokers. Chest X-ray is a cheap and simple method to detect AAC, which should be an important warning signal for immediate smoking cessation.
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou No. 12 Hospital (Guangzhou Occupational Disease Prevention and Treatment Centre), Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chao Qiang
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiang Qian
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Lao
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: G Neil
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Wei Sen
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Peymane
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Adab
authors.forename: Tai Hing
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Kar Keung
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000208:ethnology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*