Mortality in relation to alcohol consumption: a prospective study among male British doctors.

Background: To relate alcohol consumption patterns to mortality in an elderly population.

Methods: We undertook a 23-year prospective study of 12 000 male British doctors aged 48-78 years in 1978, involving 7000 deaths. Questionnaires about drinking and smoking were completed in 1978 and once again in 1989-91.

Mortality in relation to smoking: 50 years' observations on male British doctors.

Objective: To compare the hazards of cigarette smoking in men who formed their habits at different periods, and the extent of the reduction in risk when cigarette smoking is stopped at different ages.

Design: Prospective study that has continued from 1951 to 2001.

Setting: United Kingdom.