Editorial
Lipid lowering drugs for patients who continue to smoke?
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
For many of us, the issues raised by the prescription of lipid lowering drugs to patients who continue to smoke are perplexing. In particular there is the concern that the benefits of lowering serum cholesterol may be offset by the harmful effects of nicotine; and that general practitioners and hospital doctors who advise on one aspect of a patient's care to the exclusion of another may somehow be construed as approving, or at least accepting of, the fact that their patient continues to smoke.
Risks of smokingSome smokers still cling to the belief, reinforced by the tobacco
companies, that nicotine is not harmful. A sympathetic but firm
explanation of the risks may therefore be helpful. The study of 35 000
British doctors followed from 1951 to 1991 showed that 50% of habitual
smokers die of diseases that have nothing to do with smoking, 25% of
smokers die of smoking related diseases in
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