The report, issued last Friday, finds that cigarette smoking kills even more Americans than previously estimated (about 480,000 a year, up from 443,000), and is a cause, though not necessarily the major cause, of even more diseases than previously recognized, including liver and colorectal cancers. These add to the long list of other cancers caused by smoking, as well as rheumatoid arthritis and other ailments. The report newly identifies exposure to secondhand smoke as a cause of strokes.
The report estimates that smoking costs the United States between $289 billion and $333 billion a year for medical care and lost productivity, well above the previous estimate of $193 billion.
Most shocking, the report finds that today’s smokers have a much higher risk for lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than smokers in 1964, despite smoking fewer cigarettes.
It reports that the risk of developing adenocarcinoma of the lung, the most common type of lung cancer, has increased substantially over the past several decades because of...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
Related articles
The 50-year war on smoking (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Asbestos and Cigarettes (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Deal reached on tobacco firm corrective statements (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Cancer deaths rise to 8.2 million, breast cancer sharply up (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Global cancer burden rises to 14.1 million new cases in 2012: Marked increase in breast cancers must be addressed (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
Why Everyone Seems to Have Cancer (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
