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Smoking Among Adults: Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke
- Coronary heart disease and
stroke—the primary types of cardiovascular disease caused by smoking—are the
first and third leading causes of death in the United States. More than 61
million Americans suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease, including
high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart
failure, and other conditions. More than 2,600 Americans die every day
because of cardiovascular diseases, about 1 death every 33 seconds. (p. 363)
- Toxins in the blood from
smoking cigarettes contribute to the development of atherosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis is a progressive hardening of the arteries caused by the
deposit of fatty plaques and the scarring and thickening of the artery wall.
Inflammation of the artery wall and the development of blood clots can
obstruct blood flow and cause heart attacks or strokes. (p. 364-365)
- Smoking causes coronary
heart disease, the leading cause of death in the
United States. Coronary heart disease results from
atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries. (p. 384, 407)
- In 2003, an estimated 1.1
million Americans had a new or recurrent coronary attack. (p. 384)
- Cigarette smoking has been
associated with sudden cardiac death of all types in both men and women. (p.
387)
- Smoking-related coronary
heart disease may contribute to congestive heart failure. An estimated 4.6
million Americans have congestive heart failure and 43,000 die from it every
year. (p. 387)
- Smoking low-tar or
low-nicotine cigarettes rather than regular cigarettes appears to have
little effect on reducing the risk for coronary heart disease. (p. 386, 407)
- Strokes are the third
leading cause of death in the United
States. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of strokes. (p. 393)
- The
U.S. incidence of stroke is estimated at 600,000
cases per year, and the one-year fatality rate is about 30%. (p. 393)
- The risk of stroke
decreases steadily after smoking cessation. Former smokers have the same
stroke risk as nonsmokers after 5 to 15 years. (p. 394)
- Smoking causes abdominal
aortic aneurysm. (p. 397)
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.
SGR Fact Sheets
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