Facts About Teen Smoking

Smoking & Tobacco Use

Facts About Teen Smoking

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1. 90% of smokers began before the age 19.

2. Every day, almost 3,900 adolescents under 18 years of age try their first cigarette. More than 950 of them will become daily smokers.

3. Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the united states. Create handmade postcards encouraging smokers to quit. Sign up for I Want You to Quit Because....

4. About 30% of teen smokers will continue smoking and die early from a smoking-related disease.

5. Teen smokers are more likely to have panic attacks, anxiety disorders and depression.

6. Studies have found that nearly all first use of tobacco takes place before high school graduation.

7. Approximately 1.5 million packs of cigarettes are purchased for minors annually.

8. On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.

9. According to the Surgeon General, teenagers who smoke are 3 times more likely to use alcohol, 8 times more likely to smoke marijuana, and 22 times more likely to use cocaine.

10. In fact, hookah smoke has been shown to contain concentrations of toxins, such as carbon monoxide, nicotine, tar, and heavy metals, that are as high, or higher, than those that are seen with cigarette smoke.

11. Cigarette smokers are also more likely to get into fights, carry weapons, attempt suicide, suffer from mental health problems such as depression, and engage in high-risk sexual behaviors.



Smoking:

Harms nearly every organ of the body

Causes many diseases and reduces the health of smokers in general

Quitting smoking lowers your risk for smoking-related diseases and can add years to your life.
 



Smoking and Death

Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States. This is about one in five deaths.

Smoking causes more deaths each year than all of these combined:

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Illegal drug use

Alcohol use

Motor vehicle injuries

Firearm-related incidents

More than 10 times as many U.S. citizens have died prematurely from cigarette smoking than have died in all the wars fought by the United States during its history.

Smoking causes about 90% (or 9 out of 10) of all lung cancer deaths in men and women.1,2 More women die from lung cancer each year than from breast cancer.

About 80% (or 8 out of 10) of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are caused by smoking.

Cigarette smoking increases risk for death from all causes in men and women.

The risk of dying from cigarette smoking has increased over the last 50 years in men and women in the United States.

Smoking and Increased Health Risks

Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to develop heart disease, stroke, and lung cancer.

Smoking is estimated to increase the risk—

For coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times.

For stroke by 2 to 4 times1

Of men developing lung cancer by 25 times.

Of women developing lung cancer by 25.7 times.

Smoking causes diminished overall heath, such as self-reported poor health, increased absenteeism from work, and increased health care utilization and cost.

Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease

Smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels (cardiovascular disease).

Smoking causes stroke and coronary heart disease—the leading causes of death in the United States.

Even people who smoke fewer than five cigarettes a day can have early signs of cardiovascular disease.

Smoking damages blood vessels and can make them thicken and grow narrower. This makes your heart beat faster and your blood pressure go up. Clots can also form.

A heart attack occurs when a clot blocks the blood flow to your heart. When this happens, your heart cannot get enough oxygen. This damages the heart muscle, and part of the heart muscle can die.

A stroke occurs when a clot blocks the blood flow to part of your brain or when a blood vessel in or around your brain bursts.

Blockages caused by smoking can also reduce blood flow to your legs and skin.

Smoking and Respiratory Disease

Smoking can cause lung disease by damaging your airways and the small air sacs (alveoli) found in your lungs.

Lung diseases caused by smoking include COPD, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Cigarette smoking causes most cases of lung cancer.

If you have asthma, tobacco smoke can trigger an attack or make an attack worse.

Smokers are 12 to 13 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers.

Smoking and Cancer

Smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body:

Bladder

Blood (acute myeloid leukemia)

Cervix

Colon and rectum (colorectal)

Esophagus

Kidney and ureter

Larynx

Liver

Oropharynx (includes parts of the throat, tongue, soft palate, and the tonsils)

Pancreas

Stomach

Trachea, bronchus, and lung

If nobody smoked, one of every three cancer deaths in the United States would not happen. Smoking increases the risk of dying from cancer and other diseases in cancer patients and survivors.

Smoking and Other Health Risks

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body and affects a person’s overall health.

Smoking can make it harder for a woman to become pregnant and can affect her baby's health before and after birth. Smoking increases risks for:

Preterm (early) delivery

Stillbirth (death of the baby before birth)

Low birth weight

Sudden infant death syndrome (known as SIDS or crib death)

Ectopic pregnancy

Orofacial clefts in infants

Smoking can also affect men's sperm, which can reduce fertility and also increase risks for birth defects and miscarriage (loss of the pregnancy).

Smoking can affect bone health.

Women past childbearing years who smoke have lower bone density (weaker bones) than women who never smoked and are at greater risk for broken bones.

Smoking affects the health of your teeth and gums and can cause tooth loss.

Smoking can increase your risk for cataracts (clouding of the eye’s lens that makes it hard for you to see) and age-related macular degeneration (damage to a small spot near the center of the retina, the part of the eye needed for central vision).

Smoking is a cause of type 2 diabetes mellitus and can make it harder to control. The risk of developing diabetes is 30–40% higher for active smokers than nonsmokers.

Smoking causes general adverse effects on the body. It can cause inflammation and adverse effects on immune function.

Smoking is a cause of rheumatoid arthritis.




Quitting and Reduced Risks

Quitting smoking cuts cardiovascular risks. Just 1 year after quitting smoking, your risk for a heart attack drops sharply.

Within 2 to 5 years after quitting smoking, your risk for stroke could fall to about the same as a nonsmoker’s.

If you quit smoking, your risks for cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder drop by half within 5 years.

Ten years after you quit smoking, your risk for lung cancer drops by half.

In India

There are approximately 275 million tobacco users in India.  Tobacco use accounts for nearly half of all cancers among males and a quarter of all cancers among females and it is estimated that there will be 1.5 million tobacco-related deaths annually by 2020.

Current tobacco use among adults aged 15 years and older ranged from 23 to 47 percent.


Prevalence of tobacco use was much higher among males than females in india and among low-income and less-educated adults than among high-income and more highly educated adults

Smokeless tobacco was the most common form of tobacco product used in our country– at least 2 out of 5 adults used smokeless tobacco .  Cigarettes were the most common smoked tobacco product in india.

The majority of smokers (63 to 81 percent) and smokeless users (64 to 87 percent) expressed regret for starting to use tobacco in our land.

Tobacco use – in the form of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products – is a real problem in India