Reflecting on the 1964 Surgeon General Report with Viet Le, DMSc, PA-C

Author(s):

In recognition of 60 years since the historic contribution to modern understanding of the harmful effects of cigarette smoking, Albert Rizzo, MD, meets with the preventive cardiology expert to discuss the myriad of cascading effects delivered by the 1964 report.

Episode Highlights

0:15 Intro
1:48 Remembering the 1964 Surgeon General Report
3:01 The impact of the report on cardiology
6:47 The strategies and impact of anti-smoking campaigns
10:33 The modern vaping challenge
17:38 Outro

US Public Health Service Surgeon General Luther L. Terry, MD, presented a report on January 11, 1964 that which altered the future of US public health policy and practice and kickstarted the ever-evolving regulation of tobacco products.

Today, Terry and colleague’s first report of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health—an accumulation of data and evidence from 7000-plus articles pertaining to smoking and associative disease—is known as the establishing document linking cigarette use to significantly increased risk of chronic, possibly fatal pulmonary and cardiovascular disease.

In honor of the 60th anniversary of the Surgeon General’s report, HCPLive and the American Lung Association present a special episode of Lungcast dedicated to a discussion around the clinical and public health significance of the report—and how its intent reverberates in modern clashes with the vaping industry.

Lungcast is a monthly respiratory news podcast series hosted by Al Rizzo, MD, chief medical officer of the ALA, and produced by HCPLive.

Rizzo is joined by Viet Le, DMSc, PA-C, associate professor of research and preventive cardiology PA at Intermountain Heart and Vascular. A unique conversation across their respective specialties of respiratory and cardiovascular medicine, Rizzo and Le share perspective on how the 1964 report altered their fields’ research and care strategies—before converging on subjects including public health messaging, smoking cessation advocacy, and the state of addressing e-cigarette use in the spirit of the historic report.

Subscribe to Lungcast on Spotify here, or listen to the episode below.