Smoking is the #1
preventable cause of death in the nation.
Smoking causes 418,690
deaths per year, including 12,600 in N.J.
Years of potential
life lost (Centers for Disease Control survey based on 1993 statistics, published
in January, 1996): Nationally - 5,048,740 years or an average of 12.1 years
for each death due to smoking. New Jersey - 151,773 or an average of 12.0 years
for each death due to smoking.
Smoking is responsible
for one out of five American deaths.
Smoking Kills more
people than cocaine, heroine, alcohol, fire, automobile accidents, homicides,
suicides, and AIDS combined.
Reports of the Surgeon
General have concluded that smoking increases mortality and morbidity in both
men and women. Disease associations identified as causal include coronary heart
disease, atherosclerotic peripheral vascular disease, lung and laryngeal cancer,
oral cancer, esophageal cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, intrauterine
growth retardation and low-birthweight babies.
Cigarette smoking
is now considered to be a probable cause of unsuccessful pregnancies, increased
infant mortality. and peptic ulcer disease; to be a contributing factor for
cancer of the bladder, pancreas and kidney; and to be associated with cancer
of the stomach.
9O percent of adult
smokers are addicted to tobacco before they reach the age of 20; 50 percent
before the age of 14.
According to the
CDC survey, there are 46,824,800 adult smokers in the United States (22.9 percent
of the population, overall); 30.5 percent of youth currently smoke.
According to the
CDC survey, there are 1,136,900 smokers in New Jersey (19.5 percent of the state
population). 27.3 percent of youths in grades 9 - 12 smoke in New Jersey.
Each day, more than
3,000 American youngsters (under age 18) begin smoking.
Passive smoking
is the third leading preventable cause of death.
Environmental Tobacco
Smoke (ETS), known as "second hand smoke", causes 53,000 deaths per year of
non-smokers, including 1,600 in N.J. This includes 37,O00 - 40,O00 deaths from
heart disease and 3,825 lung disease deaths as a result of exposure to ETS.
The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) report, "Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking:
Lung Cancer and Other Disorders", concludes that exposure to ETS can cause lung
cancer in non-smokers and that exposure to ETS increases the risk of serious
lung disease during the first two years of a child's life.
The EPA designated
ETS as a Group A carcinogen, a rating used only for dangerous substances (such
as asbestos) known to cause cancer in humans.
In "Pediatrics",
the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a study linked passive smoking
and SIDS. It found that mothers who smoke during and the after pregnancy were
three times more likely to have had infants die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
(SIDS); infants exposed to passive smoke only after birth were two times more
likely to have died from SIDS than infants never exposed.
ETS & YOUNG CHILDREN
- Annual Statistics: 150,000-300,000 lower respiratory infections (LRI); 7,500
- 15,000 hospitalizations for LRI; 400,000 - 1,000,000 attacks of asthma; 8,000-26,000
new cases of asthma; respiratory symptoms of irritation; middle ear effusion
(a sign of middle ear disease)@ significant reduction in lung function.
Cigarette smoke is
a collection of over 4.000 chemicals, including 401 poisons and 43 carcinogens
such as nicotine, a deadly poison ( one drop, 70mg, will kill an average man
within a few minutes, most cigarettes contain somewhere between .2mg and 2.2mg);
cyanide, a deadly poison, formaldehyde, a chemical preservative; methanol, a
wood alcohol; acetone, the prime ingredient in nail polish remover.
Smoking costs: 1993,
$50 billion in health care and lost productivity; $7.2 billion in Medicare and
Medicaid for tobacco related illnesses.
The total financial
cost of smoking in 1991 was estimated to be $70.0 billion of $2.59 per pack
of cigarettes sold in the U.S. This translates to S 1,078 per smoker and $272
per capita.
ln 1993, the tobacco
industry, spent $5.6 billion to advertise and promote tobacco products.
ln 1991, tobacco
companies produced a 137.3% total return to investors, with total sales increasing
by 16.3% and profits by 27.2% over 1990 figures. Each of these categories reflect
a number one ranking over all other industries. Total profits for 1991 were
$1.42 billion.
Sources: Surgeon General's Reports-, American Heart Association; Tri-Agency
Coalition on Smoking OR Health; Environmental Protection Agency; American Academy
of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease
For health or contribution information,
contact your local American Heart Association,
at 1-800-AHA-USA I or
1-800-242-8721.
Please consider including the American Heart Association
in your will.