Smoking Among Adults in the United States: Respiratory Health

In 2001, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) was the fourth leading
cause of death in the United States, resulting in more than 118,000 deaths.
More than 90% of these deaths were attributed to smoking. (p. 500)

According to the American Cancer Society’s second Cancer Prevention Study,
female smokers were nearly 13 times as likely to die from COPD as women who
had never smoked. Male smokers were nearly 12 times as likely to die from
COPD as men who had never smoked. (p. 500)

About 10 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with COPD,
which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD is consistently among
the top 10 most common chronic health conditions. (p. 499)

Smoking is related to chronic coughing and wheezing among adults. (p. 490,
509)

Smoking damages airways and alveoli of the lung, eventually leading to COPD.
(p. 498)

Smokers are more likely than nonsmokers to have upper and lower respiratory
tract infections, perhaps because smoking suppresses immune function. (p.
425, 447)

In general, smokers’ lung function declines faster than that of nonsmokers.
(p. 482)

Citation

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of
Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center
for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and
Health, 2004.


Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative
health impacts on people at all stages of life. It harms unborn babies,
infants, children, adolescents, adults, and seniors.