FISH CONSUMPTION MAY LIMIT THE DAMAGE OF SMOKING ON THE LUNG

High fish consumption is characteristic of Japanese-American men of th e Honolulu Heart Program (HHP). Analyses of data from the Atherosclero sis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study suggest high fish intake protects the lu ng against smoking damage. Measurements of forced expiratory v olume in 1 s (FEV(1)) and smoking status in the HHP cohort were done a t the first examination in 1965-68. Among 8,006 men, 45 to 68 yr, 6,34 6 had acceptable spirograms. Within current smokers, 1,545 men consume d fish less than twice a week, and 1,264 ate fish twice a week or more . Controlling for cigarettes/d, age, height, and daily calories, separ ate regression models indicated an average decrease of -10.1 ml for ea ch additional yr of smoking (95% Confidence Interval [Cl]: -13.6, -6.5 ) at low levels of fish intake, and a decrease of -4.4 ml (95% Cl: -8. 2, -0.6) at high levels. The coefficients were significantly different (p = 0.03). These differences reflect a predicted FEV(1) 144 ml (95% Cl: 62, 227) higher in the high fish group at greater than or equal to 40 yr of smoking, but no difference at less than or equal to 35 yr. S imilar analyses were conducted for cigarettes/d. On average, the FEV(1 ) decline for each additional cigarette/d was not significantly differ ent among subjects with low versus high fish intake. However, the pred icted FEV(1) at less than or equal to 30 cigarettes/d was 52 ml (95% C l: 17, 87) higher in the high fish consumption group No significant di fference in FEV(1) was noted between groups at > 30 cigarettes/d. Thes e findings suggest that the protective role of fish is ''saturated'' a t higher ''doses'' of cigarette smoking.