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"LOW YIELD" CIGARETTES DO NOT PROTECT AGAINST MI.

Ever since the 1964 Surgeon General's report on the risks of smoking, the tobacco industry has tried to produce cigarettes that it could describe as "safer." At the same time, advertising has increasingly been directed toward women, and, probably as a consequence, the prevalence of smoking has declined less in women than in men over the past 25 years. The use of cigarettes that produce low levels of nicotine and carbon monoxide has been increasing, and data from some studies suggest that these "low yield" cigarettes have a slightly lower cancer risk than the pre-1964, unfiltered cigarettes. Whether they reduce the risk of coronary heart disease is unknown.

This case-control study involving 910 women with a first myocardial infarction and 2375 control subjects demonstrates that the relative risk of MI is not associated with the nicotine or carbon monoxide yields of the cigarettes. In fact, the relative risk of MI was higher for the lowest nicotine cigarettes (4.7) than for the highest nicotine cigarettes (4.2). This excellent study reinforces a simple message: There is only one way to substantially reduce the risks of smoking, and that is to quit.

— ALK

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine June 23, 1989

Citation(s):

Benowitz NL. Health and public policy implications of the "low yield" cigarette. N Engl J Med 1989 Jun 15 320 1619-1621.

• Medline abstract (Free)

Palmer JR et al. "Low yield" cigarettes and the risk of nonfatal myocardial infarction in women. N Engl J Med 1989 Jun 15 320 1569-1573.

• Medline abstract (Free)