Do we need further proof on the dangers of smoking?

This summary is based on the 2014 US Surgeon General’s report: The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General, 2014.

Read the Executive Summary (PDF)

Read the full report (PDF)

For the United States, the epidemic of smokingcaused disease in the twentieth century ranks among the greatest public health catastrophes of the century, while the decline of smoking consequent to tobacco control is surely one of public health’s greatest successes. However, the current rate of progress in tobacco control is not fast enough, and much more needs to be done to end the tobacco epidemic.

Unacceptably high levels of smokingattributable disease and death, and the associated costs, will persist for decades without changes in our approach to slowing and even ending the epidemic.

 

 

 

Main Report Findings

• Fifty years after the first report in 1964, it is striking that the scientific evidence in this report expands the list of diseases and other adverse health effects caused by smoking and exposure of nonsmokers to tobacco smoke. These new findings include:
  • Liver cancer and colorectal cancer are added to the long list of cancers caused by smoking;
  • Exposure to secondhand smoke is a cause of stroke;
  • Smoking increases the risk of dying from cancer and other diseases in cancer patients and survivors;
  • Smoking is a cause of diabetes mellitus; and
  • Smoking causes general adverse effects on the body including inflammation and it impairs immune function. Smoking is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.
• The century-long epidemic of cigarette smoking has caused an enormous avoidable public health tragedy. Since the first Surgeon General’s report in 1964 more than 20 million premature deaths can be attributed to cigarette smoking.
• Since the 1964 Surgeon General’s report, cigarette smoking has been causally linked to diseases of nearly all organs of the body, to diminished health status, and to harm to the fetus. Even 50 years after the first Surgeon General’s report, research continues to newly identify diseases caused by smoking, including such common diseases as diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis, and colorectal cancer.
• Exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke has been causally linked to cancer, respiratory, and cardiovascular diseases, and to adverse effects on the health of infants and children.
• The disease risks from smoking by women have risen sharply over the last 50 years and are now equal to those for men for lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular diseases.
• In addition to causing multiple diseases, cigarette smoking has many adverse effects on the body, such as causing inflammation and impairing immune function.
• Although cigarette smoking has declined significantly since 1964, very large disparities in tobacco use remain across groups defined by race, ethnicity, educational level, and socioeconomic status and across regions of the country.
• The burden of death and disease from tobacco use in the United States is overwhelmingly caused by cigarettes and other combusted tobacco products; rapid elimination of their use will dramatically reduce this burden.

Further Resources

• Consumer Booklet: Let’s Make the Next Generation Tobacco-Free: Your Guide to the 50th Anniversary Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health
• Fact Sheet: The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General
• Video and Podcast Series: Reflecting on 50 Years of Progress