title: [Dose-response relationship between smoking status and carotid atherosclerosis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the dose-response relationship of smoking status with carotid atherosclerosis in 959 relatively healthy Chinese men.
  
  
  METHODS
  959 older Chinese men were selected from Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study (GBCS) on cardiovascular disease. Personal histories were collected and fasting plasma glucose and lipids, blood pressure, and common carotid artery intima-median thickness (CCA-IMT) were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  (1) Composition of the cases: 39.1% were non-smokers, 25.7% were former smokers and 35.2% were current smokers. The mean (95% confidence interval) carotid IMT was 0.78 (0.77 - 0.79) mm. 18.4% of the subjects had carotid IMT equal to or thicker than 1.0 mm while 34.1% had carotid plaque. (2) After adjusting for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, fasting glucose, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, compared to never smokers, current smokers had significantly increased risk for thicker IMT and carotid plaque [odds ratio (OR) = 1.82, 95%CI: 1.30 - 2.55 and OR = 1.95, 95%CI: 1.38 - 2.75, respectively, all P < 0.001]. The risk for thicker IMT and carotid plaque increased with the increasing amount (cigarettes/day) and duration of smoking (years) as well with cigarette pack-years (P for trend all ≤ 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An elevated risk with a clear dose-response relationship was found between cigarette smoking and carotid atherosclerosis. Quitting smoking or reducing the amount of smoking may lower the risk of atherosclerosis, preventing and controlling the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases, and reducing the related cardiovascular mortalities.
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou No.12 Hospital, Guangzhou 510620, China.
authors.forename: Chao-qiang
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Jie-ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Tai-hing
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.forename: Wei-sen
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ya-li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Kar-keung
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Thomas G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Neil
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017539:Tunica Intima