Second Hand Reality By "The Man" Who Started It All

Sir Richard Doll: A life's research
A 50-year study has provided the most comprehensive picture yet of the
perils of smoking.
For half a century eminent scientist Sir Richard Doll has followed
smokers to assess just what impact their habit is having on their
health.
BBC News Online profiles the man who first confirmed the link between
smoking and lung cancer.
Fifty years ago, doctors at the UK's Medical Research Council published
a scientific paper that was truly ground-breaking.
They revealed that smoking can cause lung cancer. It was the first time
the link had been confirmed.
The findings were to change the minds and lives of millions of people
around the world.
In 1954, 80% of British adults smoked. Today, that figure is 26%.
Sir Richard Doll was one of the men behind that pioneering study.
He was 41 at the time and had been working in the MRC's Statistical
Research Unit since the end of World War II.

SIR RICHARD DOLL 1912: Born in Hampton, England, on 28 October 1937:
Graduated from St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London 1939-45:
Served in the Royal Army Medical Corps 1946: Started work at the
Medical Research Council 1951: Co-authored a paper suggesting smoking
causes lung cancer 1954: Co-authored a paper confirming the link
between smoking and lung cancer 1956: Awarded an OBE 1961: Appointed
director of the MRC Statistical Research Unit 1969: Appointed Regius
Professor of Medicine at Oxford University 1970-71: Served as
vice-president of the Royal Society 1971: Received a knighthood 1996:
Made a Companion of Honour for services of national importance July
2005: Dies after a short illness aged 92

The study was the culmination of years of work, all aimed at trying to
find out why so many people were dying from lung cancer.
"Mortality from lung cancer was increasing every year in the first few
decades of the last century," said Sir Richard.
"People didn't pay any attention to these mortality rates during the
war.
"But in the years that followed, they started to become concerned."
Today, few people dispute that smoking causes cancer. In post-war
Britain it was a very different story.
Some scientists had suggested that rising rates of lung cancer may be
due to smoking. But tests on animals appeared to rule out a link.
Many researchers, including Sir Richard, started to investigate other
potential suspects.
"I personally thought it was tarring of the roads. We knew that there
were carcinogens in tar."
Sir Richard and his colleagues interviewed 700 lung cancer patients to
try to identify a possible link.
"We asked them every question we could think of," he said.
"It wasn't long before it became clear that cigarette smoking may be to
blame. I gave up smoking two-thirds of the way through that study."
The findings were published in 1951. However, it wasn't until the 1954
paper was published that people started to take notice.
"Nobody believed us," said Sir Richard. "They thought there may be
other explanations."
Historic study
The MRC researchers continued with their work. This time they enrolled
every doctor in the UK in their study.
In 1951, they asked 40,000 doctors if they smoked. Over the course of
the next three years, they compared those answers with information
about doctors who went on to develop lung cancer. They found a direct
link.
The findings prompted the then UK health minister Iain Macleod to call
a news conference.
Chain-smoking throughout, he said: "It must be regarded as established
that there is a relationship between smoking and cancer of the lung."
The study has provided the foundation for all other research into the
impact of smoking cigarettes on health.
It has arguably helped to save millions of lives.

GLOBAL RECOGNITION 1962: UN award for cancer research 1974: New York
Academy of Science Presidential Award 1981: Bruce Medal, American
College of Physicians 1983: Gold Medal, British Medical Association
1986: Royal Medal from the Royal Society 2000: Gold Medal from the
European Cancer Society 2002: Norway's King Olaf V award for
outstanding work on cancer
Sir Richard's work has been recognised throughout the world.
He has received honorary degrees from 13 universities.
He has won countless awards, including the United Nations Award for
Cancer Research in 1962 and the gold medal of the European Cancer
Society in 2000.
His achievements have been recognised by the Queen. He was knighted in
1971 and made a Companion of Honour in 1996 for services of national
importance.

But among his peers, Sir Richard is known for much more than just his
1954 paper.
Over the course of the past five decades, he has published hundreds of
papers on topics as varied as oral contraception, peptic ulcers and
electrical power lines.
He has shown that all radiation is potentially harmful, which wasn't
always thought to be the case, and that aspirin can protect against
heart disease.
He has uncovered evidence to suggest that drinking alcohol increases
the risk of breast cancer and that electrical power lines do not cause
cancer.
Hitting the headlines
His findings have sometimes sparked controversy. So too has the man.
In 2001, he riled the anti-smoking lobby after appearing to downplay
the risks from second-hand smoke.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he said: "The
effects of other people smoking in my presence is so small it doesn't
worry me."
In February 2004, he hit the headlines after saying he would be willing
to go to prison because of new rules on medical research.
At 91, Sir Richard remained as busy and as sharp as ever.
In March that year, he took part in the topping-out ceremony for the
new Richard Doll Building at Oxford University.
Fittingly, the building will house some of the country's top cancer
researchers.
In June 2004, he published further findings from the study he started
in 1951.
Some 67 years after graduating from medical school, he was only then
for the first time considering retirement.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/3826939.stm

Published: 2004/06/22 09:21:22 GMT

© BBC MMV

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