Stroke happens either when the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off because of a blood clot, or when a brain artery ruptures and leads to a haemorrhage. Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability worldwide, but most strokes can be prevented by addressing a small number of key risk ... factors. more

Age-standardized estimates of current tobacco use, tobacco smoking and cigarette smoking (Tobacco control: Monitor)

While smoking prevalence has decreased over the past 30 years, the total number of smokers worldwide has continued to increase due to population growth, contributing significantly to disease burden.

Background The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of reduction, cessation, and resumption of smoking on cancer development. Methods The authors identified 893,582 participants who currently smoked, had undergone a health screening in 2009, and had a follow-up screening in 20 ... 11. Among them, 682,996 participated in a third screening in 2013. Participants were categorized as quitters, reducers I (≥50% reduction), reducers II (<50% reduction), sustainers (referent), or increasers (≥20% increase). Outcome data were obtained through December 31, 2018. Results Reducers I exhibited a decreased risk of all cancers (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.93-0.99), smoking-related cancers (aHR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.92-0.99), and lung cancer (aHR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.77-0.88). Quitters had the lowest risk of all cancers (aHR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.92-0.96), smoking-related cancers (aHR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.89-0.93), and lung cancer (aHR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.76-0.83). In further analysis with 3 consecutive screenings, additional smoking reduction (from reducers II to reducers I) lowered the risk of lung cancer (aHR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.58-0.94) in comparison with sustainers. Quitting among reducers I further decreased the risk of all cancers (aHR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.80-1.00), smoking-related cancers (aHR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.81-0.92), and lung cancer (aHR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.52-0.84) in comparison with sustainers. Smoking resumption after quitting, even at a lower level, increased the risk of smoking-related cancers (aHR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06-1.33) and lung cancer (aHR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.21-1.80) in comparison with sustained quitting. Conclusions Smoking cessation and, to a lesser extent, smoking reduction decreased the risks of cancer. Smoking resumption increased cancer risks in comparison with sustained quitting. more

Progress in reducing tobacco use is a key indicator for measuring countries’ efforts to implement the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – target 3.a under the Sustainable Development Goals agenda. Countries have adopted this indicator to report progress also towards the tobacco reducti ... on target under the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020 and the WHO’s Global Programme of Work triple billions target. Fourth edition. more