Tobacco Facts
Tobacco Facts
Smoking Kills
- Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. Smoking is a factor in heart disease, cancer, stroke, and lung disease, and it costs the U.S. nearly $150 billion each year in health care and other expenses. Learn about lung cancer.
- About 438,000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases. This is more than all alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car crash, fire, and AIDS deaths combined. In New York State, that number is about 25,500 adults.
- Here in Monroe County, three people die each day from smoking-related diseases.
- Secondhand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death behind active smoking and alcohol abuse. It also has many non-fatal but serious effects; breathing secondhand smoke makes the eyes and nose burn, and can cause headaches and nausea in nonsmokers.
- Smoking is considered a health hazard because tobacco smoke contains nicotine, a poisonous alkaloid, and other harmful substances such as carbon monoxide, acrolein, ammonia, prussic acid, and a number of aldehydes and tars; in all, tobacco contains some 4,000 chemicals.
- On average, a pack-a-day smoker spends about $1,460 – $2,190 a year on cigarettes.
- Patients who smoke before surgery have a higher rate of infection than nonsmokers.
- Smoking slows healing after surgery.
- Smokers' broken bones take longer to heal than nonsmokers' bones.
Facts and information have been compiled from the following sources: