Health Effects of Cigarette Smoking

Smoking and Death in the United States

The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for an estimated 443,000 deaths, or nearly 1 of every 5 deaths, each year in the United States.^1,2 More deaths are caused each year by tobacco use than by all deaths from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.^1,3

Smoking Causes Death

Smoking causes approximately

• 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men⁴
• 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women⁴
• 90% of deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease⁴

Smoking and Increased Health Risks

Compared with nonsmokers smoking increases the risk of—

• Coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times^4,5
• Stroke by 2 to 4 times^4,6
• Men developing lung cancer by 23 times⁴
• Women developing lung cancer by 13 times⁴
• Dying from chronic obstructive lung diseases* by 12 to 13 times⁴

*such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema

Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease (Heart and Circulatory System)

• Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.⁴
• Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels (arteries) and puts smokers at risk for developing peripheral vascular disease (i.e., obstruction of the large arteries in the arms and legs that can cause a range of problems from pain to tissue loss or gangrene).⁷
• Smoking causes abdominal aortic aneurysm (i.e., a swelling or weakening of the main artery of the body—the aorta—where it runs through the abdomen).⁴

Smoking and Respiratory Disease

• Smoking causes lung cancer.^1,4
• Smoking causes the following lung diseases by damaging the airways and alveoli (i.e., small air sacs) of the lungs:
  • Emphysema
  • Bronchitis
  • Chronic airway obstruction^1,4

Smoking and Cancer

• Smoking causes the following cancers:⁴

• acute myeloid leukemia     kidney cancer                           cancer of the pancreas
• bladder cancer                cancer of the larynx (voice box) cancer of the pharynx (throat)
• cancer of the cervix           lung cancer                               stomach cancer
• cancer of the esophagus  cancer of the oral cavity (mouth) cancer of the uterus

Smoking and Other Health Effects

• Cigarette smoking has many adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, including increased risk for—
  • Infertility
  • Preterm delivery
  • Stillbirth
  • Low birth weight
  • Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).^4,8
• Postmenopausal women who smoke have lower bone density than women who never smoked.⁸
• Women who smoke have an increased risk for hip fracture than women who never smoked.⁸

References

1. 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):1226–1228 [accessed 2009 May 5].
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health, United States, 2008. Hyattsville (MD): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2009 [accessed 2009 May 5].
3. 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):1238–1245 [cited 2009 June 16].
4. 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 2009 May 5].
5. 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 2009 May 5].
6. Ockene IS, Miller NH. Cigarette Smoking, Cardiovascular Disease, and Stroke: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals from the American Heart Association. Circulation 1997;96(9):3243–3247 [cited 2009 May 5].
7. Fielding JE, Husten CG, Eriksen MP. Tobacco: Health Effects and Control. In: Maxcy KF, Rosenau MJ, Last JM, Wallace RB, Doebbling BN, editors. Public Health and Preventive Medicine. 14th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1998:817–845 [cited 2009 May 5].
8. 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 2009 May 5].

For Further Information

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
Phone: 1-800-CDC-INFO

Media Inquiries: Contact CDC's Office on Smoking and Health press line at 770-488-5493.