On December 9, 2010, the Surgeon General released a report titled, “How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease.”
You can find the report at: http://surgeongeneral.gov/library/tobaccosmoke/index.html
The major conclusions of the report are:
1. The evidence on the mechanisms by which smoking causes disease indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to tobacco smoke.
2. Inhaling the complex chemical mixture of combustion compounds in tobacco smoke causes adverse health outcomes, particularly cancer and cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, through mechanisms that include DNA damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress.
3. Through multiple defined mechanisms, the risk and severity of many adverse health outcomes caused by smoking are directly related to the duration and level of exposure to tobacco smoke.
4. Sustained use and long-term exposures to tobacco smoke are due to the powerfully addicting effects of tobacco products, which are mediated by diverse actions of nicotine and perhaps other compounds, at multiple types of nicotinic receptors in the brain.
5. Low levels of exposure, including exposures to secondhand tobacco smoke, lead to a rapid and sharp increase in endothelial dysfunction and inflammation, which are implicated in acute cardiovascular events and thrombosis.
6. There is insufficient evidence that product modification strategies to lower emissions of specific toxicants in tobacco smoke reduce risk for the major adverse health outcomes.
The Surgeon General’s Report provides more evidence of the dangers of tobacco smoke. This is not really news to those of us who work in public health and health care. We have seen the damage smoking can do. Yet, 20% of the U.S. population still smokes.
According to a September 2010 article in the L.A. Times (http://lat.ms/eQFYUn), “After 40 years of continual declines, the smoking rate in the United States has stabilized for the last five years, with one in every five Americans still lighting up regularly. . . .” This statement was based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through 2009.
Looking at the 2009 CDC data by state, 19.6% of the Michigan population that year said they were smokers. (21.1% of men and 18.3% of women) For Michigan WISEWOMAN, the rates are much higher. Of all women enrolled during the 2009 calendar year, over 35% were smokers.
Why do so many people still smoke? The answer is in number 4 above, “Sustained use and long-term exposures to tobacco smoke are due to the powerfully addicting effects of tobacco products.” Tobacco products are powerfully addicting. I know this from experience. I used to smoke, but I quit smoking 16 years ago this month. I remember how difficult it was to quit. I also remember how good it felt to be free of that addiction.
Now that Michigan has a clean indoor air law, it will hopefully encourage more people (including WISEWOMAN participants) to quit smoking. If you or someone you know want to quit smoking, check out these resources on the Michigan Department of Community Health website: http://bit.ly/heE3DS and on the Smokefree Women website: http://women.smokefree.gov/
The major conclusions of the report are:
1. The evidence on the mechanisms by which smoking causes disease indicates that there is no risk-free level of exposure to tobacco smoke.
2. Inhaling the complex chemical mixture of combustion compounds in tobacco smoke causes adverse health outcomes, particularly cancer and cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, through mechanisms that include DNA damage, inflammation, and oxidative stress.
3. Through multiple defined mechanisms, the risk and severity of many adverse health outcomes caused by smoking are directly related to the duration and level of exposure to tobacco smoke.
4. Sustained use and long-term exposures to tobacco smoke are due to the powerfully addicting effects of tobacco products, which are mediated by diverse actions of nicotine and perhaps other compounds, at multiple types of nicotinic receptors in the brain.
5. Low levels of exposure, including exposures to secondhand tobacco smoke, lead to a rapid and sharp increase in endothelial dysfunction and inflammation, which are implicated in acute cardiovascular events and thrombosis.
6. There is insufficient evidence that product modification strategies to lower emissions of specific toxicants in tobacco smoke reduce risk for the major adverse health outcomes.
The Surgeon General’s Report provides more evidence of the dangers of tobacco smoke. This is not really news to those of us who work in public health and health care. We have seen the damage smoking can do. Yet, 20% of the U.S. population still smokes.
According to a September 2010 article in the L.A. Times (http://lat.ms/eQFYUn), “After 40 years of continual declines, the smoking rate in the United States has stabilized for the last five years, with one in every five Americans still lighting up regularly. . . .” This statement was based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through 2009.
Looking at the 2009 CDC data by state, 19.6% of the Michigan population that year said they were smokers. (21.1% of men and 18.3% of women) For Michigan WISEWOMAN, the rates are much higher. Of all women enrolled during the 2009 calendar year, over 35% were smokers.
Why do so many people still smoke? The answer is in number 4 above, “Sustained use and long-term exposures to tobacco smoke are due to the powerfully addicting effects of tobacco products.” Tobacco products are powerfully addicting. I know this from experience. I used to smoke, but I quit smoking 16 years ago this month. I remember how difficult it was to quit. I also remember how good it felt to be free of that addiction.
Now that Michigan has a clean indoor air law, it will hopefully encourage more people (including WISEWOMAN participants) to quit smoking. If you or someone you know want to quit smoking, check out these resources on the Michigan Department of Community Health website: http://bit.ly/heE3DS and on the Smokefree Women website: http://women.smokefree.gov/
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