Smoking is even more deadly than previously thought

A new study suggests that smoking may be responsible for 60,000 to 120,000 more deaths in the U.S. each year than previously thought. The examination of 181,377 fatalities logged in five large databases found that many of the excess deaths among smokers were due to causes not previously linked to smoking, such as kidney failure, infections and possibly breast and prostate cancers. Until now, 21 common diseases have been associated with cigarette smoking, including diabetes, 12 cancers and six forms of cardiovascular disease. The new research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, may expand that list.

Smokers die, on average, more than a decade before nonsmokers.

Dr. Graham Colditz, an epidemiologist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

If the findings are applied nationwide, coauthor Eric Jacobs said, the number of previously-unrecognized smoking-related deaths could be greater than the total number of Americans who die each year of influenza or liver disease. Until this study, about 480,000 U.S. deaths each year were believed to be attributable to cigarettes. The researchers also found that the elevated risks faded as smokers stayed off cigarettes. The findings derive from databases following nearly a million people over age 54 for about a decade.

It’s important for people to realize the full impact that smoking has in terms of the national deaths. So eliminating smoking needs to be a national priority.

Co-author Eric Jacobs told Reuters Health

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