Dangerous Facts About Smoking

Smoking is a dangerous habit. It has a way of affecting every aspect of your life. Other than the sometimes offensive smell, there are serious health consequences that are connected to smoking and second-hand smoke. Approximately 19.8 percent of U.S. adults and 20 percent of high school students are current smokers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is not only expensive for the smoker, but also for society. On average, smoking costs more than $193 billion dollars annually between lost productivity and health care expenses, and treatment costs from secondhand smoke average $10 billion annually, according to the CDC.

Cardiovascular Risks

• Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, according to the CDC. Smoking is a direct cause of coronary heart disease, and smokers are up to four times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than non-smokers. Smokers are also twice as likely to have a stroke and more the 10 times as likely to suffer from peripheral vascular disease, according to the CDC.

Cancer

• The risk of developing cancer greatly increases if you are a smoker. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States. Just among lung cancer deaths, 90 percent of them are attributable to smoking, according to the CDC. By quitting, you can reduce by half your risk of getting lung cancer within 10 years, according to the American Lung Association. Other cancers that may develop as a result of smoking are cancers of the mouth, pancreas, stomach, bladder and esophagus.

Lung Diseases

• Lung cancer isn't the only disease of the lungs that smoking can cause. Smoking causes both emphysema and COPD, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder. Smoking is attributable to more than 90 percent of all chronic obstructive lung diseases. The risk of death from a chronic obstructive lung disease is 10 times more likely in smokers tham non-smokers, according to the CDC.

Secondhand Smoke

• Secondhand smoke, also know as environmental tobacco smoke, is a mixture of smoke given off by the end of the cigarette burning and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of the smoker. It can linger in the air for hours and is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a known carcinogen in humans. This can effect non-smokers, as well as smokers. According to the American Lung Association, secondhand smoke contains more than 250 chemicals known to be carcinogens.

Mortality

• Each year, there are more than 5 million deaths worldwide attributed to smoking, according to the CDC. It is the number-one preventable cause of death in the United States, and smokers, on average, die 13 to 14 years earlier than non-smokers. In the United States alone, the number of deaths from smoking account for one out of every five deaths.