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How Does Smoking Shorten Your Lifespan?

Smoking cigarettes is harmful to most organs in the human body. Tobacco use causes respiratory disease, heart disease and cancer. Each year, more deaths are caused by smoking than motor vehicle accidents, murders and alcohol use.

  1. Heart Disease and Strokes

    • The leading cause of death in the United States is coronary heart disease. A person who smokes is two to four times more likely to develop this disease than a person who does not smoke. A smoker's risk of having a stroke is almost double that of a nonsmoker.

    Cancers

    • Smoking increases the risks of developing various types of cancer, including cancers of the bladder, kidney, oral cavity, esophagus and pancreas. The risk of developing lung cancer is 13 times higher for female smokers and 23 times higher for male smokers.

    Respiratory Disease

    • Cigarette smoking increases the risks of developing respiratory diseases. Approximately 90 percent of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease relates to smoking. The risks of developing this disease increases tenfold for smokers.

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