Lung disease linked to cardiovascular disease in never-smokers
Never-smokers with versus without lung disease had cardiovascular disease hazard ratios (relative rates over time) of 1.23 for men and 1.24 for women.
Researchers followed 366,161 China Kadoorie Biobank participants without diagnosed cardiovascular disease at enrolment in a prospective observational cohort study. Breathing tests identified 20,887 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a long-term lung condition that restricts airflow. Researchers tracked heart and blood vessel diseases: heart disease caused by reduced blood supply, heart failure, high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat.
Over a median follow-up of 10 years, researchers recorded 40,861 new cardiovascular disease events. Among never-smokers, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk in both men and women. Among men with the lung condition, overall cardiovascular disease rates were similar in smokers and never-smokers. Women with the condition who had never smoked had lower risks for every cardiovascular outcome studied than their smoking counterparts.
Why it matters
Heart and blood vessel disease is a concern for health in later life. The study bears on whether risk assessments should consider chronic lung disease even in people who have never smoked.
Caveats
This observational study identified associations; it could not show that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease caused cardiovascular disease.
- Smoking
- Cardiovascular disease
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Heart failure
- Atrial fibrillation
- Humans
The paper
Peking University Third Hospital
Chinese Medical Journal, 12 Oct 2026
