|
The Effects of Smoking
Cancer Causing
Cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals,
69 of which are known to cause cancer. Smoking is
directly responsible for 90 percent of lung cancer
deaths and approximately 80-90 percent of COPD
(emphysema and chronic bronchitis) deaths.
Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National
Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Tobacco Information
and Prevention Source (TIPS). Tobacco Use in the United States. January 27, 2004.
Serious Illness
About 8.6 million people in the U.S. have at least
one serious illness caused by smoking. That means that
for every person who dies of a smoking-related disease,
there are 20 more people who suffer from at least one
serious illness associated with smoking.
Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Smoking Attributable
Morbidity - U.S., 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2003 Sept; 52(35): 842-844.
Chronic Lung Disease
Among current smokers, chronic lung disease accounts
for 73 percent of smoking-related conditions. Even among
smokers who have quit chronic lung disease accounts for
50 percent of smoking-related conditions.
Source:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cigarette Smoking Attributable
Morbidity - U.S., 2000. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 2003 Sept; 52(35): 842-844.
Heart Disease and Stroke
Smoking is also a major factor in coronary heart disease
and stroke; may be causally related to malignancies in
other parts of the body; and has been linked to a variety
of other conditions and disorders, including slowed healing
of wounds, infertility, and peptic ulcer disease. For the
first time, the Surgeon General includes pneumonia in the
list of diseases caused by smoking.
Source:
U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Health Consequences
of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2004.
Pregnancy Risks
Smoking in pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20 to 30 percent
of low-birth weight babies, up to 14 percent of preterm deliveries,
and some 10 percent of all infant deaths. Even apparently healthy,
full-term babies of smokers have been found to be born with narrowed
airways and curtailed lung function.
Source:
U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Women and Smoking:
A Report of the Surgeon General, 2001.
Women and Smoking
Only about 30 percent of women who smoke stop smoking when they
find they are pregnant; the proportion of quitters is highest
among married women and women with higher levels of educational
attainment. Smoking during pregnancy declined in 2002 to 11
percent of women giving birth, down 40 percent from 1990.
Source:
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Smoking During Pregnancy -
U.S., 1990-2002. Vol. 53, No. 39, October 8, 2004.
Health Care Costs
Neonatal health-care costs attributable to maternal smoking in
the U.S. have been estimated at $366 million per year, or $704
per maternal smoker.
Source:
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. State Estimates of Neonatal Health-Care
Costs Associated with Maternal Smoking - U.S., 1996. Vol. 53, No. 39,
October 8, 2004.
Harmful to Children
Smoking by parents is also associated with a wide range of
adverse effects in their children, including exacerbation of asthma,
increased frequency of colds and ear infections, and sudden infant
death syndrome. An estimated 150,000 to 300,000 cases of lower
respiratory tract infections in children less than 18 months of age,
resulting in 7,500 to 15,000 annual hospitalizations, are caused by
secondhand smoke.
Source:
California Environmental Protection Agency. Health Effects of Exposure to
Environmental Tobacco Smoke. September 1997.
|
