30/08/2005 (Agence Europe) - In its September edition, the journal Prescrire points out that in Europe, smoking is responsible for between 25 and 30% of all deaths from cancer and that it also causes deaths from cardiovascular illness and obstructive respiratory diseases. Prescrire reports the results of the monitoring of nearly 5900 heavy smokers in the United States, consuming an average of 31 cigarettes a day, and presenting moderate obstructive respiratory disease. After 15 years of observation, the annual death rate of the former smokers (those having given up for over five years) was lower than those of those who were still smoking, particularly regarding their rates of death by cardiovascular disease and lung cancer. Heavy smokers with moderate respiratory disease and who had stopped smoking had much lower mortality rates.