The acting surgeon general issued the 32nd report on tobacco. He aims to stop the use of cigarettes and tobacco. Tobacco has killed 20 million people since the first report was issued in 1964. By 2012, the number of smokers had dropped significantly (42% of American adults in 1964, to 18%). But the numbers for people dying due to tobacco are up. This is supposedly due to secondhand smoke. Thirteen cancers have been added to the list of those associated with smoking. Secondhand smoke also makes a non-smoker 20-30% more likely to have a stroke. The report also found that diabetes, erectile dysfunction, rheumatoid arthritis, macular degeneration, ectopic pregnancies and impaired immune function can be caused by smoking as well. It's predicted that 5.6 million children alive today will die early because of smoking or secondhand smoke. The surgeon general believes that making tobacco products more expensive, creating more smoke-free laws and running anti-smoking media campaigns will be the most effective ways to stop people from smoking. He plans to start with young people and to create a generation of non-smokers. 87% of smokers had their first cigarette before they were 18. E-cigarettes also tempt kids with a seemingly harmless alternative smoking method. The surgeon general hopes that in 50 years, we won't need another report on smoking and tobacco.
Only 3 people I know have ever smoked: two of them developed cancer, and the other one quit (she had luckily smoked for less time than the other two) to lower the danger to herself. Getting throat or lung cancer (or both) seems inevitable if you're a smoker. Here's even more medical evidence that supports it. According to the article, one out of three cancers is cause by tobacco or other smoking products. It's a wonder that people still smoke, even with all of the horribly negative effects that we know of. It would be nice if people would stop smoking, but I think that it will probably be a long time before that happens. Perhaps we can at least begin to make smoking a thing of the past.
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/17/health/surgeon-general-report/index.html?hpt=us_c2
Yet another reason to not smoke/quit smoking. As if we really needed it. It's a dirty, unhealthy, expensive habit.
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