Smoking causes half the tuberculosis deaths in Indian men
Half the male tuberculosis deaths in India are caused by smoking, and three quarters of the smokers who become ill with tuberculosis (TB) would not have done so if they had not smoked. These are the conclusions of a major new study led by the Epidemiological Research Centre in Chennai, India and primarily funded by the MRC and Cancer Research UK. The study found that in India male smokers are about four times as likely to contract TB as non-smokers, and consequently four times as likely to die from the disease.
The Lancet 2005; 2003; 362: 507-515