Smoking

Why quitting is critical

If you smoke, you're not alone. Recent statistics published in 2006 by the American Heart Association indicate that smoking is still very prevalent in the United States. Consider these facts:

• Among American women age 18 and older, 18.5% are smokers.
• More people with 9 to 11 years of education smoke (34%) compared to those with 16 years of education or more (8%).
• An estimated 150,000-300,000 children younger than 18 months of age have respiratory tract infections because of exposure to secondhand smoke.
• Each day about 3000 people begin smoking cigarettes. Just under half of these (around 1500 people) are younger than age 18 when they start smoking daily.
   

Perhaps more alarming than the number of people who smoke are the effects smoking has on our bodies. In the year 2000, the leading cause of death was tobacco (435,000 deaths), more than the sum of all deaths from alcohol consumption (85,000), microbial agents (75,000), toxic agents (55,000), motor vehicle accidents (43,000), firearms (29,000), sexual behavior (20,000), and illicit drug use (17,000) combined. Many smoking-related deaths occur from heart disease and related complications, and most are preventable. In short, quitting smoking may be the most important thing that you can do to lower your risk for heart disease and death.

How does smoking affect the heart?

Smoking has several different negative impacts on your heart. If you smoke, your risk of developing heart disease is 2 to 4 times higher than it is for a nonsmoker. And if you are a smoker who has a heart attack, you are more likely to die suddenly (within an hour) than a nonsmoker. On average, women who smoke die 14 ½ years earlier than women who don't smoke.

As you might expect, the best way to completely eliminate the risks of smoking is to never smoke. But if you do, quitting today may help you lower your risk for heart disease. (Check back soon for an interactive resource about quitting smoking.)