- Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds. Hundreds are toxic and at least 69 are known to cause cancer.
- Damage from tobacco smoke is immediate; the chemicals in tobacco smoke reach your lungs quickly every time you inhale.
- Low levels of smoke exposure, including exposures to secondhand tobacco smoke, lead to a rapid and sharp increase in dysfunction and inflammation of the lining of the blood vessels, which are implicated in heart attacks and stroke.
- About 60 percent of American children ages 4-11 are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
- The list of diseases caused by smoking includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema), coronary heart disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, pneumonia, periodontitis, and bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, throat, cervical, kidney, stomach, and pancreatic cancers. Smoking is also a major factor in a variety of other conditions and disorders, including slowed healing of wounds, infertility, and peptic ulcer disease.
- Smoking has been linked to at least one-third of all cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
- Smoking causes more than one in five deaths in America.
- Smokers die significantly earlier than nonsmokers: 13.2 years for men and 14.5 years for women.
- Since 1965, more than 45 percent of adults who have ever smoked have quit.
- Quitting at any age and at any time is beneficial. It's never too late to quit.
Smoking Facts
[Source: American Lung Association]
Smoking - The Facts
[Source: MedlinePlus]
Smoking & Tobacco Use: Fast Facts
[Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]
How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General (2010)
[Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services]
The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General (2014)
[Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services]
Smoking: Do you really know the risks?
[Source: American Heart Association]
Guide to Quitting Smoking
[Source: American Cancer Society]
Smoking Cessation Products
[Source: U.S. FDA]
How To Handle Withdrawal Symptoms and Triggers When You Decide To Quit Smoking
[Source: National Cancer Institute]
The UCSF Medical Center's Fontana Tobacco Treatment Center offers classes as well as individual consultations with doctors trained in treating tobacco addiction. They help smokers maximize the likelihood of success in their efforts to quit. Services include:
- Smoking Cessation Classes
- Relapse Prevention Program
- Doctor Consultation
UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion
2330 Post St., Suite 420
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 885-7895
Note: The online enrollment link is tricky to find. Go to http://www.ucsfhealth.org/clinics/tobacco_treatment_center/ and click on Show More (above the map)
Posts
