Fewer Men dying from Prostate Cancer linked to fewer Men Smoking

By Shannon Pierce

We all know at least one smoker, and we probably know someone who wants to quit smoking or has tried.  They may be a family member or friend, but the habit is always concerning.  There may be good news, however, linking decreases in prostate cancer deaths to decreases in smoking habits in the United States. Could the two statistics be correlated? Luckily, researchers found out more information on the topic, and a few interesting results.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states that smoking kills half a million Americans each year and costs more than $300 billion.  Prostate cancer is way too common, showing up in 240,000 U.S. men every year, killing about 30,000 a year. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also states that 19 percent of United States men smoke and 15 percent of women smoke. 

Miranda Jones of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and colleagues wrote in their report published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, "From 1999 through 2010, decreasing prostate cancer mortality rates were consistent with a reduction in cigarette smoking at the population level."

Researchers recognized that prostate cancer seemed to be declining and were determined to see if it was correlated with a drop in smoking. Jones and her team looked at four very different states: Kentucky, the state that smokes the most in the United States, Utah, where the fewest smoke and Maryland and California, who have average smoking rates.

Jones reported to NBC news that in their findings, in Utah and California, cigarette smoking dropped 3.5 percent per year, and prostate mortality rates dropped 2.1 percent to 2.5 percent per year.

Kentucky and Maryland’s smoking habits decreased by three percent each year and deaths from prostate cancer also decreased by 3.5 percent each year.

The researchers also noted that the correlation doesn’t necessarily mean that one thing causes another, however, they did find that in Utah, where a majority of the population are Mormon and smoking is prohibited, that only nine percent of men smoke.  24.5 percent of those in Utah who are not Mormon do smoke, higher than the national average.  Utah also has some of the highest death rates from prostate cancer. They speculated that the higher death rate from prostate cancer in Utah even though they have fewer smokers could indicate that the deaths occur more from non-LDS men who are more likely to smoke.

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