Studies on smoking, chronic nonspecific respiratory diseases, and lung cancer in selected territories of Czechoslovakia.

Results of epidemiological studies in selected territories of Czechoslovakia confirmed the important role of cigarette smoking as a risk factor of chronic bronchitis and lung cancer. Surveys in Kolin-District, in Prague, and Zatec revealed that the prevalence of chronic bronchitis for adult male smokers was 3--4 times, for adult female smokers twice higher than for the nonsmokers of the respective age and sex. The risk of developing lung cancer in male smokers aged 40--64 years who had smoked a total amount of 200,000 cigarettes and over was approximately 50 times higher than for nonsmokers. The smoking related respiratory diseases represent a serious medical, social, and economic problem. Their prevention carried out by various approaches, including effective smoking control measures, is an important task.