Why Smoking is Bad for You?

Smoking is responsible for several diseases, such as cancer, long-term (chronic) respiratory diseases, and heart disease, as well as premature death. Over 440,000 people in the USA and 100,000 in the UK die because of smoking each year. According the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), $92 billion are lost each year from lost productivity resulting from smoking-related deaths.

Of the more than 2.4 million deaths in the USA annually, over 440,000 are caused by smoking.

Smoking is the largest cause of preventable death in the world. Recent studies have found that smokers can undermine the health of non-smokers in some environments.

In an article published online in Medical News Today on 30 May 2013, we presented data demonstrating that, on average, smokers die ten years sooner than non-smokers.

Smoking Causes Cancer

90% of lung cancer patients developed their disease because of smoking. Lung cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer deaths in the world. Smokers also have a significantly higher risk of developing:

Bladder cancer
Kidney cancer
Cancers of the pharynx and larynx (throat cancer)
Mouth cancer
Esophagus cancer
Cancer of the pancreas
Stomach cancer
Some types of leukemia
Cancer of the nose and sinuses
Cervical cancer
Bowel cancer
Ovarian cancer
In some cases, also breast cancer

According to Cancer Research UK, one person dies every 15 minutes in Great Britain from lung cancer. Smoking also raises the risk of cancer recurrences (the cancer coming back).

Why Does Smoking Raise Cancer Risk?

Scientists say there are over 4,000 compounds in cigarette smoke. A sizeable number of them are toxic – they are bad for us and damage our cells. Some of them cause cancer – they are carcinogenic.