Overview
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body. Smoking causes many diseases and reduces the health of smokers in general. 1
Smoking and Death
Smoking causes death.
*. The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 443,000 deaths, or nearly one of every five deaths, each year in the United States. 2,3
*. More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, andmurders combined. 2,4
*. Smoking causes an estimated 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80% of all lung cancerdeaths in women. 1
*. An estimated 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease are caused by smoking. 1
Smoking and Increased Health Risks
Compared with nonsmokers, smoking is estimated to increase the risk of—
*. coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times, 1,5
*. stroke by 2 to 4 times, 1,6
*. men developing lung cancer by 23 times, 1
*. women developing lung cancer by 13 times, 1 and
*. dying from chronic obstructive lung diseases (such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema) by 12 to 13 times. 1
Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease
*. Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. 1
*. Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation bynarrowing the blood vessels (arteries) and puts smokers at risk of developing peripheral vascular disease (i.e., obstruction of the large arteries in the arms and legs that can cause a range of problems from pain to tissue loss or gangrene). 1,7
*. Smoking causes abdominal aortic aneurysm (i.e., a swelling or weakening of the main arteryof the body—the aorta—where it runs through the abdomen). 1
Smoking and Respiratory Disease
*. Smoking causes lung cancer. 1,2
*. Smoking causes lung diseases (e.g., emphysema, bronchitis, chronic airway obstruction) by damaging the airways and alveoli (i.e., small air sacs) of the lungs. 1,2
Smoking and Cancer
Smoking causes the following cancers: 1
*. Acute myeloid leukemia
*. Bladder cancer
*. Cancer of the cervix
*. Cancer of the esophagus
*. Kidney cancer
*. Cancer of the larynx (voice box)
*. Lung cancer
*. Cancer of the oral cavity (mouth)
*. Pancreatic cancer
*. Cancer of the pharynx (throat)
*. Stomach cancer
Smoking and Other Health Effects
Smoking has many adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, including increased risk for—
*. infertility,
*. preterm delivery,
*. stillbirth,
*. low birth weight, and
*. sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). 1,8
Smoking is associated with the following adversehealth effects: 8
*. Postmenopausal women who smoke have lower bone density than women who never smoked.
*. Women who smoke have an increased risk for hip fracture than women who never smoked.
References
1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General . Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004 [accessed 2012 Jan 10].
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004 . Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2008;57(45):1226–8 [accessed 2012 Jan 10].
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health, United States . Hyattsville (MD): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. [accessed 2012 Jan 10].
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