So say researchers who constructed simple charts, stratified by age, sex and smoking habits that show the risk of dying from various causes in the next 10 years in people aged 35 to 70. These tables show that the 10 year risk of dying from all causes is higher in men than in women. The current charts take into account updated mortality data and address concerns voiced by other researchers over the grouping together of former smokers and those who've never smoked.
Age- and sex-specific death rates, reported as number of deaths per 1000 population, were calculated using the 2004 National Center for Health Statistics Multiple Cause of Death Public Use File and census data.
Some of the findings were:
- For men 50 and older who have never smoked, heart disease kills more people than lung, colon, and prostate cancer combined.
- For men who currently smoke, the risk of dying from lung cancer is about the same as dying from heart disease for those 60 and older. After age 50, the risk of dying from lung cancer is about 10 times greater than the risk of dying from prostate or colon cancer.
- For women who have never smoked, the 10-year risk of death is similar for breast cancer and heart disease until age 60, after which heart disease becomes the leading killer.
For women who currently smoke, the risk of dying from lung cancer or heart disease is greater than the risk of dying from breast cancer from age 40 on.
