Lung Health Study: Quitters Live Longer
Dental hygienists who encourage patients to quit smoking have gained a new ally in the crusade. Results of the Lung Health Study (LHS) published in the February 15, 2005 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine offer commanding evidence that quitting smoking significantly increases long-term survival rates.

Launched in 1986 and sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the LHS followed 5,900 middle-aged smokers who were healthy except for mild or moderate abnormal lung function. Participants were randomly split into two groups: one group followed a 10-week intensive smoking cessation program, and the other group did not.

After five years, 22 percent of the participants in the cessation program were sustained quitters, compared to only 5 percent of the people who hadn’t been enrolled in the program. At the 11-year mark, 90 percent of the initial 22 percent were still abstaining from smoking.

A major result of the smoking cessation program was the increase in lifespan for participants. After 14 years, the death rate for cessation program participants was 15 percent lower than that for the other group. Sustained quitters in both groups had almost half the death rate of continued smokers.

“This study shows the substantial impact smoking cessation programs can have on public health, even if a small number of participants successfully quit,” Dr. Gail Weinmann, director of the airway biology and disease program at the NHLBI, said in a prepared statement.

This year, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation increased its support of ADHA’s Smoking Cessation Initiative to just more than $200,000. The grant will be used to continue the nationwide campaign to promote smoking cessation through the efforts of registered dental hygienists.

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