- Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society.
- Smokers have twice the risk of dying of heart attacks.
- Smokers lose an average of 15 years of life.
- Smoking causes 3,000 nonsmokers to die of lung cancer each year.
- Smoking is the cause of about 30% of all cancer deaths.
- Smoking is responsible for more than 87% of lung cancer cases overall.
- Smoking increases the risk of lung cancer over tenfold.
- Smoking has made lung cancer the No. 1 cancer killer of American women.
- Smoking increases the risk of developing emphysema and chronic bronchitis over five fold.
- Smoking increases the risk of miscarriage, lowers the birth weight and increases the likelihood of health problems during infancy.
- Smoking is related to about 419,000 US deaths each year.
- Nicotine addiction is the “most widespread example of drug dependence in our country” according to the US Public Health Service.
- More than 80% of current smokers started smoking before age 21. Teenage years are critical ones in the habituation of cigarette smokers.
- Smoking rates are highest among people who live below poverty level.The number of Americans who have quit smoking is rising steadily. About 44 million Americans have quit smoking.
- Smoking is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease. This disease is a narrowing of blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles. If a blood clot blocks an already narrowed artery, the result could be the damage or even loss of an arm or leg.
- Cigarette tar contains more than 4,000 known chemicals, 43 are known to cancer.
- Smoking has been implicated as a risk factor in cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, pancreas, cervix, kidney and bladder.
- About 46 million people currently smoke cigarettes.
- About 250 million people now living in developed countries will eventually die as a result of smoking.
- Those who smoke two or more packs of cigarettes a day have lung cancer rates 12 to 25 times greater than nonsmokers.