U. S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona today released a new comprehensive report on smoking and health, revealed for the first time that smoking causes diseases in nearly every organ in the body. Published 40 years after the first report of the Surgeon General on Smoking – the conclusion that smoking was a cause some of three serious diseases – this new report shows that smoking is conclusively to diseases such as leukemia, cataracts, pneumonia and cancers of the cervix related, kidneys, pancreas and stomach.
“We have known for decades that smoking is unhealthy, but this report shows that it is even worse than we knew,” said Dr. Carmona. “The toxins from cigarette smoke go everywhere the blood flows. I hope that this new information will help motivate people to quit smoking and convince young people about this, do not start in the first place.”
According to the report, smoking kills 440,000 Americans estimated that every year. On average, men who smoke cut their lives short by 13.2 years and female smokers lose 14.5 years. The economic damage exceeding $ 157 billion per year in the United States – 75 billion in direct medical costs and $ 82 billion in lost productivity.
“We need to reduce smoking in this country and around the world,” HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. “Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease, costing us too many lives and dollars too and too many tears. If we are serious about the need to improve health and prevent disease, we continue to reduce tobacco consumption. And we must prevent our youth from the opening of this dangerous habit. ”
In 1964, the report of the Surgeon General’s announced medical research showing that smoking was a cause of some cancers of the lung and larynx (voice box) in men and chronic bronchitis in men and women. Later, the final report concluded that smoking causes a number of other diseases such as cancers of the bladder, esophagus, mouth and throat, cardiovascular disease and effects on fertility. New report published today, the health consequences of smoking increases: A Report of the Surgeon General, the list of diseases and conditions that are associated with smoking. New diseases and diseases are cataracts, pneumonia, acute myeloid leukemia, aneurysm of the abdominal aorta, stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, cancer of the cervix, kidney cancer and periodontitis.
Statistics show that more than 12 million Americans smoking since the 1964 report of the Surgeon General, are dead, and another 25 million Americans alive today will most likely die of smoking illnesses.
The report released ahead of World No Tobacco Day, an annual event May 31 that focuses global attention on the health risks of smoking. The objectives of World No Tobacco Day are to raise awareness about the dangers of smoking, should not the people, tobacco use, encourage people to quit and encourage countries to implement programs comprehensive tobacco control.
The report concludes that smoking reduces the overall health of smokers, contributing to conditions such as hip fractures, complications of diabetes, increased wound infections after surgery and a wide range of complications reproduction. For every premature death caused each year by smoking, there are at least 20 smokers with excessive consumption of tobacco caused disease.
Another important conclusion, consistent with recent conclusions of other scientific studies is that smoking so-called low tar or nicotine cigarettes low offers no advantage over Heath regular smoking or “full-flavor cigarettes” .
“It is in no safe cigarette, whether it is” light “ultra light” or another name, “said Dr. Carmona.” The science is clear: the only way to avoid the health risks of smoking is completely abandoned, or never start smoking. ”
The report concludes that quitting smoking has immediate and long-term benefits, reducing risks for diseases caused by smoking and improving health in general. “Within minutes and hours after smokers inhale that last cigarette, their bodies begin a series of changes that continue for years said:” Dr. Carmona. “Among these health improvements to a decrease in the frequency heart, improved circulation, and reduce the risk of heart attack, lung cancer and stroke. In smoking today a smoker can assure a healthier future. ”
Dr. Carmona said, it is never too late to quit. No Smoking at age 65 is reduced by almost 50 per cent chance for a person to die from smoking-related diseases.