BMJ No 7115 Volume 315
News Saturday 25 October 1997
Older smokers are left out of antismoking policies
| Older smokers are consistently ignored by antismoking initiatives, yet no one is ever too old to give up smoking, according to several papers in Tobacco Control (published by the BMJ
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Older people represent the fastest growing segment of the population in industrialised countries. So although the prevalence of smokers in this group is low, sheer numbers will ensure that this sector of the community will be a major contributor to healthcare costs, said Dr Tracy Orleans of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, New Jersey (Tobacco Control 1997;6:161-3). |  | |
| Cigar smoking is associated with success |
Data from the United States national health interview surveys 1965-94 show that, although the prevalence of smoking among those aged 65 and older has decreased by a third during this period and was lower than that of younger people, the rate of decline was much slower among older people. Fewer black people than white, and fewer women than men tended to give up smoking in this age group (Tobacco Control 1997;6:175-80) .
Doctors are also missing a valuable opportunity to discourage smoking: 40% of elderly smokers in the United States were not given any advice by their doctors on giving up smoking in 1992. Yet, said Dr Orleans, research since 1990 has shown that "older smokers are highly responsive to targeted smoking cessation programmes, and are at least as likely as younger smokers, if not more so, to succeed in quitting."
Cigar smokers tend to be older, and there are now 10 million of them in the United States compared with six to eight million five years ago. Judy Falit of the Center for Social Gerontology in Michigan said that while cigarette advertising has been curbed, cigar advertising has been allowed to flourish, propped up by Hollywood with its connotations of success and by the perception that cigars are a healthier option to cigarettes (Tobacco Control 1997;6:240-2). "It is important that this growing cigar fad, and its inherent health dangers, not be overshadowed by the cigarette battles currently being fought in the tobacco war," she said.
Caroline White
London
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