The facts on smoking can be pretty scary. Whenever a consumer buys a pack of cigarette, a government warning is always printed on its package. It reads: “Government Warning: Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health.” Are you aware of the dangers that smoking imposes on your health? Here are the facts:• Cancer. Smoking causes cancer because smoke contains 19 known carcinogens. Nicotine, the highly addicting substance in cigarettes, accelerates the growth of already existing cancers. In the United States, 87% of lung cancer cases are related to smoking. Cancers of the oral cavity, esophagus, larynx, and pancreas have also been related to smoking.
• Heart Disease. A smoker is 5 times more likely to have a heart attack compared to a nonsmoker. Exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart disease by 25 to 30%.
• Pulmonary disease. Long term exposure to carbon monoxide and cyanide, commonly found in smoke, causes emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smoking more than 20 cigarettes a day increases the risk of acquiring tuberculosis by 2 to 4 times.
• Infection. Smoking increases the risk of acquiring infections like invasive pneumococcal disease, bronchitis, and other pulmonary and respiratory infections.
• Miscarriage. Miscarriages are common among pregnant smokers.
• Infant disease and death. Women who smoked during pregnancy usually gave birth to low-birth weight infants. Smaller babies have higher risk of postnatal problems like jaundice and breathing problems. In the United States, secondhand smoke results in 430 infant deaths annually.
• Death. The life expectancy of a smoker is reduced by 2.5 to 10 years fewer than a nonsmoker. Today, smoking is the second major cause of death in the world! It causes 58.8 million deaths worldwide! A smoker or former smoker dies every 6.5 seconds!

“Government Warning: Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health.” Don’t take these words for granted. Stop smoking now! Save your life and the life of others!

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