Cigarette Smoking and Changes in Respiratory Findings

Standardized surveys of cardiorespiratory findings were conducted among male telephone company employees 40 to 59 years of age, and repeated five to six years later. Cigarette smokers had considerably more cough, phlegm, and chronic wheeze and slightly more nasal catarrh and breathlessness on exertion than nonsmokers. Pipe and cigar smokers had intermediate levels of these symptoms. Men who quit cigarette smoking between two surveys showed considerable improvement in cough and phiegm. Respiratory symptoms and among smokers of nonfilter cigarettes. Forced expiratory volume decreased and sputum volume increased among all groups over the observation period. Both changes were least marked among men who quit smoking cigarettes and were most marked among those who continued to smoke cigarettes.