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Smoking Deaths Appear to Be Rising. Here's the Real Reason
Newser • • health
Key Points:
- A new analysis reveals that the perceived 50% increase in smoking-related death risk from 1987 to 2013 is mainly due to the aging smoker population rather than deadlier cigarettes.
- Researchers found that at the same age, the mortality risk from smoking has remained largely unchanged over recent decades.
- Smoking rates have dramatically declined, with adult smoking dropping from over 40% in the 1960s to about 12% in 2022, and youth smoking under 4% as of 2021.
- The current smoker demographic is predominantly middle-aged and older adults (45-64), who naturally have higher health risks, skewing overall mortality statistics upward.
- The study emphasizes the need for models assessing smoking harms to adjust for the aging smoker population and suggests similar approaches could apply to other age-related risk factors like obesity and poor diet.
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