The US Surgeon-General calls it 'the largest preventable cause of death in America'.Without doubt, smoking is one of the most dangerous habits in which we indulge. the number of deaths a year worldwide due to smoking is not precisely known, but undoubtedly runs into tens of thousands.It has been calculated that a male cigarette smoker who dies as a result of his smoking loses a average of 15 years of life. The male smoker who dies of coronary heart disease will lose an average of nearly 20 years- the difference between dying at 50 and dying at 70.

At least 25 per cent of all deaths from coronary heart disease are estimated to be caused by smoking, and 90 per cent of all deaths from lung cancer and chronic bronchitis.An objection occasionally made to these statistics is that they suggest a connection between smoking and illness but do not prove it. But the connection is too close for coincidence.Lung cancer, for instance, is extremely rare in non-smokers and was virtually unknown at the beginning of the century before cigarette smoking had become widespread.

In addition, experiments have shown that the tarry residue of burned cigarette tobacco can produce skin cancer. Even more convincing, examination of lung tissue from smokers, non-smokers and ex-smokers shows progressive changes in the cells, which reverse when a person stops smoking.

Heavy cigarette smokers are at greatest risk. Pipe and cigar smokers occasionally get lip and mouth cancer, but their risk of getting lung cancer, bronchitis or coronaty heart disease is only about half that of cigarette smokers.This is thought to be because people who smoke only pipes or cigars do not inhale as much as cigarette smokers. If this is true, it still cannot be said that pipe and cigar smoking is safe. It would depend on how the pipe or cigars are smoke.

Heavy smokers are more likely to die of lung cancer, bronchitis or heart disease than light smokers. People who smoke one to 14 cigarettes a day run eight times the risk of dying of lung cancer as non-smokers. Meduim smokers (15-24) run 13 times the risk, and heavy smokers(25 or more a day) 25 times the risk. Unfortunately, it does not follow that you can reduce your risk by cutting down. The important factor is the amount of smoke that goes into the lungs. Recent research shows that when they cut down, some smokers tend to compensate by inhaling more smoke from each cigarette. To the lungs, ten cigarettes a day at 20 puffs per cigarette is the same as 20 cigarettes a day at ten puffs per cigarette.

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