Shortened life expectancy |
| An average smoker can expect to live 8.3 fewer years than a nonsmoker (your actual risk is proportional to the number of packs and length of time you have smoked). | | After 10 to 15 years, an ex-smoker's mortality rate approaches that of a person who has never smoked. |
Heart disease |
| Smokers are twice as likely to have a heart attack as nonsmokers, and five times more likely to die suddenly from a heart attack. | | Increased risk decreases sharply one year after quitting smoking. After 10 years, an ex-smoker's risk approaches that of a person who has never smoked. |
Peripheral vascular disease |
| Because it accelerates atherosclerosis (“hardening of the arteries”), smoking can impair blood circulation in the legs, which can lead to gangrene and amputation. | | Risk decreases when the progression of atherosclerosis is slowed. |
Lung cancer |
| Cigarette smoking is responsible for nearly 85 percent of all lung cancers. | | After 10 to 15 years, an ex-smoker's risk approaches that of a person who has never smoked. |
|
Larynx cancer |
| Smoking increases risk by up to 18 times that of a nonsmoker. | | Risk gradually decreases, reaching normal after 10 years. |
Mouth cancer |
| Smokers have three to 10 times as many oral cancers as nonsmokers. Alcohol may magnify the risk. Pipe tobacco, cigars and snuff are also major contributors. | | Reducing or eliminating smoking and drinking lowers risk in the first few years. Risk drops to the level of a nonsmoker in 10 to 15 years. |
Cancer of the esophagus |
| Smoking cigarettes, pipes or cigars increases by two to nine times the risk of dying from this cancer. Combining these with alcohol magnifies the risk. | | Since risk is proportional to dose, reducing or eliminating smoking and drinking should lower the risk. |
Cancer of the bladder |
| A smoker's risk is seven to 10 times greater than a nonsmoker's, and increases further when combined with certain occupational exposures. | | Risk decreases gradually over seven years to that of a nonsmoker. |
Cancer of the pancreas |
| The risk of dying from this cancer is two to five times higher for smokers than for nonsmokers. | | Since risk appears related to dose, stopping smoking should reduce it. |
Chronic bronchitis and emphysema |
| Smokers face four to 25 times greater risk of death from these diseases; lung damage occurs even in young smokers. | | Within weeks of quitting, cough disappears. Lung function may improve and the rate of deterioration may slow down. |
Stillbirth, prematurity, low birth weight and SIDS |
| Women who smoke have more stillbirths, more low-birth-weight babies, and more babies who are vulnerable to disease and death. A high proportion of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome babies had mothers who smoked. | | Risk to the fetus is reduced if the mother quits smoking before the fourth month of pregnancy. |
|
