Tobacco—What it Is and What it Does - Deaths Attributed To Tobacco Use

According to The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General (2004), cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States and produces substantial health-related economic costs to society. The report noted that smoking caused an estimated 440,200 deaths in the United States each year from 1995 to 1999. Nationwide, smoking kills more people each year than alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides, fires, and AIDS combined.

In 2003 diseases linked to smoking accounted for four of the top five leading causes of death in the United States. (See Table 5.5.) About 685,000 people died of various heart diseases in 2003 (down from about 761,000 in 1980). Almost 555,000 died of cancer, and cerebro-vascular disease (stroke) claimed 157,803 lives. About 126,000 died of chronic lower respiratory diseases, including chronic bronchitis, asthma, and emphysema. For 2005, the American Cancer Society estimated that 163,510 Americans would die of lung and bronchus cancer. While not all lung and bronchus cancer deaths are directly attributable to smoking, a large proportion of them are.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality in both men and women in the United States. It has been the leading cause of cancer deaths among men since the early 1950s and, in 1987, surpassed breast cancer to become the leading cause of cancer deaths in women. In a statement quoted on www.cancerpage.com in 2003, former U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher explained that one in four cancer-stricken women will die of lung cancer. The American Cancer Society estimated in Cancer Facts and Figures 2005 (2005) that in that year 90,490 men and 73,020 women would die from lung and bronchus cancer in the United States, accounting for nearly 29% of all cancer deaths.