Tobacco and Smoking

Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

• Cigarette smoking causes more than 440,000 deaths each year in the United States. This is about one in five deaths.^2,3,4
• Smoking causes more deaths each year than all of these combined:⁵
  • Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
  • Illegal drug use
  • Alcohol use
  • Motor vehicle injuries
  • Firearm-related incidents

• Smoking causes about 90% (or 9 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths in men^1,2 and 80% (or 8 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths in women.¹ More women die from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer.⁶
• About 90% (or 9 out of 10) of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are caused by smoking.¹

Cardiovascular Disease – 

Cigarette smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease).^1,2

• Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease—the leading causes of death in the United States.^1,4
• Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower. This makes your heart beat faster and your blood pressure go up. Clots can also form.
• A heart attack occurs when a clot blocks the blood flow to your heart. When this happens, your heart cannot get enough oxygen. This damages the heart muscle, and part of the heart muscle can die.
• A stroke occurs when a clot blocks the blood flow to part of your brain or when a blood vessel in or around your brain bursts.
• Blockages caused by smoking can also reduce blood flow to your legs and skin.^1,2

Respiratory Disease – 

Smoking can cause lung disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs (alveoli) found in your lungs.^1,2

• Lung diseases caused by smoking include COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.^1,2
• Cigarette smoking causes most cases of lung cancer.^1,2
• If you have asthma, tobacco smoke can trigger an attack or make an attack worse.¹
• Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers.¹

Cancer – 

Cigarette smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body, including:²

• Bladder
• Bone marrow and blood
• Cervix
• Esophagus
• Kidneys and ureters
• Larynx (voice box)
• Lungs
• Mouth, nose, and throat
• Pancreas
• Stomach
• Trachea

Smoking can greatly increase your risk for chronic kidney disease. Find out if you are part of the 33% at risk for CKD by taking our minute-long kidney risk quiz today.

Cigarette smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and affects a person’s overall health.^1,2

• Smoking can make it harder for a woman to become pregnant and can affect her baby’s health before and after birth. Smoking increases risks for—^1,2,6
  • Preterm (early) delivery
  • Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)
  • Low birth weight
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or crib death)
• Smoking can also affect men’s sperm, which can reduce fertility and also increase risks for birth defects and miscarriage (loss of the pregnancy).²
• Smoking can affect bone health.^1,6
  • Women past childbearing years who smoke have lower bone density (weaker bones) than women who never smoked and are at greater risk for broken bones.
• Smoking affects the health of your teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss.¹
• Smoking can increase your risk for cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens that makes it hard for you to see).¹
• Smoking can make diabetes harder to control.²

• Quitting smoking cuts cardiovascular risks. Just 1 year after quitting smoking, your risk for a heart attack drops sharply.²
• Within 2 to 5 years after quitting smoking, your risk for stroke could fall to about the same as a nonsmoker’s.²
• If you quit smoking, your risks for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder drop by half within 5 years.²
• Ten years after you quit smoking, your risk for lung cancer drops by half.²

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004 [accessed 2013 Dec 17].
2. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: What It Means to You. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2010 [accessed 2013 Dec 17].
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Productivity Losses—United States, 2000–2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2008;57(45):1226–8 [accessed 2013 Dec 17].
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. QuickStats: Number of Deaths from 10 Leading Causes–National Vital Statistics System, United States, 2010. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2013:62(08);155. [accessed 2013 Dec 17].
5. Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL. Actual Causes of Death in the United States. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association 2004;291(10):1238–45 [cited 2013 Dec 17].
6. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of the Surgeon General, 2001 [accessed 2013 Dec 17].
7. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years of Progress. A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1989 [accessed 2013 Dec 17].