Smoking Facts On Health

Nicotine is one of the most addictive, harmful, and widely available legal drugs in the world. Smoking is an addiction and is harmful to both smokers and the people passively exposed to smoke, especially children.

Here are some Smoking Facts On Health:

• Around 17,000 children under the age of five are admitted to hospital every year because of passive smoking-related illnesses.

• About 8.6 million people in the U.S. have at least one serious illness caused by smoking. That means that for every person who dies of a smoking-related disease, there are 20 more people who suffer from at least one serious illness associated with smoking

• A single cigarette contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer. Secondhand smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, including 70 cancer-causing chemicals.

• The life expectancy of a smoker is about 10 years less than that of a non-smoker.

• Most smoking-related deaths are long and painful, with many unpleasant symptoms.

• The CDC estimates that adult male smokers lose an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lose 14.5 years of life because of smoking. And given the diseases that smoking can cause, it can steal your quality of life long before you die.

• Lung cancer - More than eight in 10 cases of lung cancer are directly related to smoking.

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) - Again, eight out of 10 cases of this distressing lung disease are caused by smoking.

• Heart disease - Considered the US biggest killer, around one in six cases is caused by smoking.

• Every year, there are approximately 46,000 deaths from heart disease in people who are current non-smokers.