title: Smoking cessation improves mortality in Japanese men: the Hisayama study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the smoking rate among Japanese men has been the highest in developed countries, the epidemiological evidence about whether smoking cessation can extend their lifespan is not well established.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1083 Japanese men aged ≥40 years were classified by their smoking status and followed up prospectively for 18 years (1988-2006).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Current smoking was a significant risk factor for all-cause death: the multivariate-adjusted HRs of all-cause death for current smokers of 1-19, 20-39 and ≥40 cigarettes per day were 1.61 (95% CI 1.16 to 2.22), 1.56 (95% CI 1.08 to 2.23) and 3.15 (95% CI 1.59 to 6.24), respectively. Former smokers did not have an increased risk of all-cause death compared with never smokers. The excess risk of all-cause death for current smokers tended to decrease within 5 years after smoking cessation, eventually reaching a level almost equivalent to that of never smokers. The risk of cancer death decreased by 53% in subjects who had quit smoking for ≥10 years, while the risk of cardiovascular death decreased by 56% in subjects with the cessation period of <10 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that even a modest smoking habit significantly increases the risk of death among Japanese men, and the risk of death diminishes soon after cessation of smoking. These results imply the importance of smoking cessation to extend life in Japanese men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City 812-8582, Japan. fumikeda@envmed.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Fumie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: Toshiharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: Yasufumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Doi
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hata
authors.forename: Masayo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fukuhara
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kiyohara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008136:Longevity; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000401:mortality*; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D013997:Time Factors