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About Smoking
The largest preventable cause of deathTobacco use, especially cigarette smoking, is the nation's single largest preventable cause of death and disease. Nearly one in five deaths in the U.S. is caused by smoking. Based on data collected from 1995 to 1999, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that on average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers. Smoking is also a major cause of cancer, heart disease, aneurysms, bronchitis, emphysema, and stroke, and it contributes to the severity of pneumonia and asthma. More about smoking's effects at: . Tobacco also has damaging effects on women's reproductive health. It is associated with reduced fertility and a higher risk of miscarriage, early delivery (prematurity), stillbirth, infant death, and is a cause of low birth weight in infants. It has also been linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). More about this at . Smoking has also been linked to a variety of other health problems, including gum disease, cataracts, bone thinning, hip fractures and peptic ulcers.
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Nearly 1 out of 5 adults smoke in U.S.In 2007, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported an estimated 19.7 % of adults 18 and older, or nearly 1 out of 5, were current smokers. Specifically, CDC estimated in 2005 that 18.1% of adult U.S. women aged 18 years or older were current cigarette smokers, and that 20 percent of high school students had smoked one or more cigarettes in the 30 days prior to its most recent survey in 2007.
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History of the Surgeon General's report on smoking and healthIn 1964, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Public Health Service released the first report of the Surgeon General's Advisory Committee on Smoking and Health. Based on more than 7,000 biomedical articles relating to smoking and disease already available the Advisory Committee concluded that cigarette smoking is:
- A cause of lung cancer and laryngeal cancer in men
- A probable cause of lung cancer in women
- The most important cause of chronic bronchitis
- The release of the report was the first in a series of steps, still being taken more than 40 years later, to diminish the impact of tobacco use on the health of the American people.
For the complete 1964 Surgeon General's report, see:
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Why quit smoking ?Even after years of smoking, quitting reduces risk immediately and long-term for many tobacco-related conditions. Quitting helps all smokers, no matter what age. Several types of smoking cessation programs have proven to be effective. For many however, quitting is difficult. This is because tobacco contains nicotine, which is pleasurable and highly addictive.
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How potential reduction exposure products (PREPs) fit in
No PREP has been sufficiently tested and scientifically shown to reduce smoke exposure in smokers to levels that might reduce risk of tobacco-related disease.
PREPs are tobacco and cigarette-like products that may result in potentially decreased delivery of some toxic tobacco agents. Some are made with different types of filters or tobacco that is cured in different ways. Others use modified delivery systems that change the inhaled smoke composition by reducing the burning temperature of the tobacco, diluting the smoke with air, or adding special "carriers" for smoke particles. None of these methods have been shown to reduce risk in the individual and harm in the population.
Non-smoking forms of nicotine delivery also can be PREPs. For example, there are ongoing studies of smokeless tobacco and pharmaceutical products of nicotine replacement therapy as ways of reducing smoke exposure. These studies investigate if these products might be used for long-term to maintain cessation or along with decreased amounts of cigarette or other conventional tobacco products.
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More about tobacco and smokersThe following links include information about smoking and tobacco, smokeless tobacco, and quitting smoking.
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