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Tobacco and Death
- 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.1,2
Tobacco use increases risk of death:
- Smoking cigarettes, pipes, or cigars increases the risk of dying from cancers of the lung, esophagus, larynx, and oral cavity.3,4
- Smokeless tobacco is a known cause of human cancer.5 In addition, the nicotine in smokeless tobacco may increase risk for sudden death from a condition (ventricular arrhythmias) where the heart does not beat properly and, as a result, the heart pumps little or no blood to the body’s organs.5
- Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.6
Cigarettes and Death
Cigarette smoking causes about 1 of every 5 deaths in the United States each year.1,6 Cigarette smoking is estimated to cause the following:1
- 443,000 deaths per year (including deaths from secondhand smoke)
- 49,400 deaths per year from secondhand smoke exposure
- 269,655 deaths annually among men
- 173,940 deaths annually among women
Cigarette use causes premature death:
- On average, adults who smoke cigarettes die 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.7
- Based on current cigarette smoking patterns, an estimated 25 million Americans who are alive today will die prematurely from smoking-related illnesses, including 5 million people younger than 18 years of age.8
Secondhand Smoke and Death
Exposure to secondhand smoke—sometimes called environmental tobacco smoke—causes nearly 50,000 deaths each year among adults in the United States:1
- Secondhand smoke causes 3,400 annual deaths from lung cancer.1
- Secondhand smoke causes 46,000 annual deaths from heart disease.1,9,10
Increased Risk for Death Among Women
Women who smoke increase their risk of dying from—
- Bronchitis by more than 10 times3,12
- Emphysema by more than 10 times3,12
- Lung cancer by nearly 12 times12
Between 1960 and 1990, deaths from lung cancer among women increased by more than 500%, and lung cancer rates now exceed breast cancer rates among women:13
- By 1986, lung cancer rates surpassed breast cancer rates among white women.
- By 1990, lung cancer rates surpassed breast cancer rates among black women.
Smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged women.12
Increased Risk for Death Among Men
Men who smoke increase their risk of dying from—
- Bronchitis by nearly 10 times3,12
- Emphysema by nearly 10 times3,12
- Lung cancer by more than 22 times12
- Smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged men.12
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 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 2009 Apr 8].
- McGinnis J, Foege WH.. Actual Causes of Death in the United States. Journal of American Medical Association 1993;270:2207–12 [cited 2009 Apr 8].
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. 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 Apr 9].
- National Cancer Institute. Cigars: Health Effects and Trends (PDF–2.93 MB). Smoking and Tobacco Control Monograph No. 9. Bethesda (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, 1998. NIH Publication No. 98-4302 [accessed 2009 Apr 8].
- World Health Organization. Smokeless Tobacco and Some Tobacco-Specific N-Nitrosamines (PDF–3.18 MB). International Agency for Research on Cancer Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans Vol. 89. Lyon, France: World Health Organization, International Agency for Research on Cancer, 2007 [accessed 2009 Apr 27].
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health, United States, 2008
(PDF–31.71 MB). Hyattsville (MD): U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, 2006 [accessed 2009 Apr 10].
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs—United States, 1995–1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2002;51(14):300–3 [accessed 2009 Apr 8]
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Perspectives in Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Smoking-Attributable Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost—United States, 1984. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1997;46:444–451 [accessed 2009 Apr 9].
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General . Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Coordinating Center for Health Promotion, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2006 [accessed 2009 Apr 13].
- California Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Tobacco Smoke: A Toxic Air Contaminant . Sacramento: California Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board, 2006 [accessed 2009 Apr 13].
- 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 Apr 9].
- Novotny TE, Giovino GA. Tobacco Use. In: Brownson RC, Remington PL, Davis JR, editors. Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Control. Washington: American Public Health Association, 1998:117–48 [cited 2009 Apr 10].
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mortality Trends for Selected Smoking-Related Cancers and Breast Cancer—United States, 1950–1990. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1993;42(44):857,863–6 [accessed 2009 Apr 13].