< Washington, AFP >
A
STUDY of the causes of death of alcoholics found that more than half resulted from smoking-related ailments, the American Medical Association reported.
The Journal of the American Medical Association study Of 845 alcoholics who participated in a treatment program from 1972 to 1983 found that more died from tobacco-related ailments than from underlying alcohol-linked illness such as cirrhosis of the liver.
Of the 214 study participants who had died, 109 died from smoking-related illnesses such as cancer or cardiovascular disease, while 73 (34 percent) died of liver failure.
Eighty-eight percent of those who died had been tobacco users.
"The prevalence of smoking among substance abusers is two to three times that of the general population and alcoholics may constitute a quarter of all (US) smokers," wrote the study team headed by Richard Hurt from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
"If smoking contributes substantially to the mortality following treatment for alcoholism, then interventions aimed at nicotine dependence should be considered by the treatment community."
The researchers said there has been little study on the use of tobacco by alcoholics.
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