| Forces International | SMOKING AND CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE |
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| Forces International | SMOKING AND CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE |
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July 26, 2001 - Conflicting Evidence - FUZZY
MATH, LOUSY SCIENCE Good old ABC, not content with broadcasting one of the most
ludicrous "specials" on smoking ever produced, lets fly with another dud,
this time on COPD. COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease but for the
purposes of its news release the acronym more rightly should be Cacophony Of Puerile
Distortions.
According to the geniuses at ABC, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease kills 100,000 Americans per year. Smokers make up 90 percent of that toll. Not all smokers get COPD. In fact only 15 percent will develop the disease. One doesn't need a fancy computer model or even a calculator to find a peculiar discrepancy with these figures. ABC reports that 90 percent of the 100,000 killed by COPD are smokers. That's 90,000 dead smokers. The most widely accepted yearly death toll for smokers succumbing to all illnesses caused by smoking is 400,000. Of all these smokers only 15 percent develop COPD. For simplicity assume all 15 percent die from the disease. The total of those smokers who die from COPD is 60,000 (15% of 400,000). We've got a discrepancy of 30,000, not exactly chump change considering how finely honed are the projections of many of anti-tobacco's death claims. Remember the 3,000 who die annually from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke? If you believe that you can certainly believe that 60,000 and 90,000 smokers die from COPD each year. ABC should be asking anti-tobacco to explain its conflicting claims and gross discrepancies rather than passing on garbage as news. |
