Health Effects of
Cigarette Smoking
Cigarette smoking harms
nearly every organ of the body, causes many diseases, and reduces the health of
smokers in general.
Quitting smoking lowers
your risk for smoking-related diseases and can add years to your life.
Cigarette smoking is the
leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
·
Cigarette smoking causes
more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. This is nearly one in
five deaths.
·
Smoking causes more
deaths each year than the following causes combined:
o Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
o Illegal drug use
o Alcohol use
o Motor vehicle injuries
o Firearm-related incidents
·
More than 10 times as
many U.S. citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died
in all the wars fought by the United States.
·
Smoking causes about 90%
(or 9 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths. More women die
from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer.
·
Smoking causes about 80%
(or 8 out of 10) of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD).
·
Cigarette smoking
increases risk for death from all causes in men and women.
·
The risk of dying from
cigarette smoking has increased over the last 50 years in the U.S.
Smokers are more likely
than nonsmokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer.
·
Estimates show smoking
increases the risk:
o For coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times
o For stroke by 2 to 4 times
o Of men developing lung cancer by 25 times
o Of women developing lung cancer by 25.7 times
·
Smoking causes
diminished overall health, increased absenteeism from work, and increased
health care utilization and cost.
Smokers are at greater
risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular
disease).
·
Smoking causes stroke
and coronary heart disease, which are among the leading causes of death in the
United States.
·
Even people who smoke
fewer than five cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular
disease.
·
Smoking damages blood
vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower. This makes your heart beat
faster and your blood pressure go up. Clots can also form.
·
A stroke occurs when:
o A clot blocks the blood flow to part of your
brain;
o A blood vessel in or around your brain bursts.
·
Blockages caused by
smoking can also reduce blood flow to your legs and skin.
Smoking can cause lung
disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs (alveoli) found in your
lungs.
- Lung diseases caused by smoking include COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
- Cigarette smoking causes most cases of lung cancer.
- If you have asthma, tobacco smoke can trigger an attack or make an attack worse.
- Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers
Smoking can cause cancer
almost anywhere in your body: (See figure above)
·
Bladder
·
Blood (acute myeloid
leukemia)
·
Cervix
·
Colon and rectum
(colorectal)
·
Esophagus
·
Kidney and ureter
·
Larynx
·
Liver
·
Oropharynx (includes
parts of the throat, tongue, soft palate, and the tonsils)
·
Pancreas
·
Stomach
·
Trachea, bronchus, and
lung
Smoking also increases
the risk of dying from cancer and other diseases in cancer patients and
survivors.
If nobody smoked, one of
every three cancer deaths in the United States would not happen.
Smoking harms nearly
every organ of the body and affects a person’s overall health.
·
Smoking can make it
harder for a woman to become pregnant. It can also affect her baby’s health
before and after birth. Smoking increases risks for:
o Preterm (early) delivery
o Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)
o Low birth weight
o Sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or
crib death)
o Ectopic pregnancy
o Orofacial clefts in infants
·
Smoking can also affect
men’s sperm, which can reduce fertility and also increase risks for birth
defects and miscarriage.
·
Smoking can affect bone
health.
o Women past childbearing years who smoke have
weaker bones than women who never smoked. They are also at greater risk for
broken bones.
·
Smoking affects the
health of your teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss.
·
Smoking can increase
your risk for cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens that makes it hard for you
to see). It can also cause age-related macular degeneration (AMD). AMD is
damage to a small spot near the center of the retina, the part of the eye
needed for central vision.
·
Smoking is a cause of
type 2 diabetes mellitus and can make it harder to control. The risk of
developing diabetes is 30–40% higher for active smokers than nonsmokers.
·
Smoking causes general
adverse effects on the body, including inflammation and decreased immune
function.
·
Smoking is a cause of
rheumatoid arthritis.
·
Quitting smoking cuts
cardiovascular risks. Just 1 year after quitting smoking, your risk for a heart
attack drops sharply.
·
Within 2 to 5 years
after quitting smoking, your risk for stroke may reduce to about that of a
nonsmoker’s.
·
If you quit smoking,
your risks for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder drop by
half within 5 years.
·
Ten years after you quit
smoking, your risk for dying from lung cancer drops by half.