Current facts and statistics about tobacco use:
- Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and premature mortality (death) worldwide.
- In the U.S., cigarette smoking causes about 1 in every 5 deaths each year, causing about 443,000 Americans to die from tobacco-related illnesses.
- Smoking is directly responsible for approximately 90 percent of lung cancer deaths.
- The list of diseases caused by smoking includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema), coronary heart disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, pneumonia, periodontitis, and bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, throat, cervical, kidney, stomach, and pancreatic cancers.
All smoking information was obtained from the following websites:
http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/TobaccoCancer/CigaretteSmoking/cigarette-smoking-who-and-how-affects-health
http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/health_effects/cancer/index.htm
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pregnancy/alcohol_smoking.html