Smoking and dementia in male British doctors

doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7257.378/a

BMJ 2000;321:378 ( 5 August )

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Smoking and dementia in male British doctors

Authors did not, strictly speaking, compare smokers with non-smokers

Paper shows politically engaged research on smoking

Authors' reply

Authors did not, strictly speaking, compare smokers with non-smokers

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ Doll et al's finding that "persistent smoking does not substantially reduce the age specific onset rate of Alzheimer'sdisease or of dementia in general" is not surprising.¹ Theauthors didn't compare smokers with non-smokers.

By combining lifelong non-smokers and ex-smokers in the non-continuing group they effectively stopped comparing smokers withnon-smokers. To complicate the issue further they then note, "Asquestionnaires were sent out only every six to 12 years, the meantime before death that the relevant smoking habits had been recordedwas not 10 but 15 years." In the end this study compares a groupincluding non-smokers and ex-smokers who may have started smokingin the previous 15 years with a group of smokers who may havestopped in the previous 15years.

Has the BMJ fallen prey to the concerted and unrelenting efforts of health organisations determined to dictate an antismokingsocial policy rather than provide the honest and . . . [Full text of this article]

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