According the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking cigarettes causes approximately 443,000 deaths each year in the United States. This means that smoking causes almost 1 out of every 5 deaths in the U.S. The American Lung Association calls it the "number one cause of preventable disease and death worldwide." About 20 percent of adults in the U.S. currently smoke. However, smoking causes damage to every organ in the body and is the cause of multiple types of illnesses.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
The CDC reports that smoking cigarettes causes 90 percent of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung (or pulmonary) disease, often referred to as COPD. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute describes COPD as a chronic inflammatory disease of the lung that grows progressively worse. Symptoms of this disease are production of a large amount of mucus, coughing, shortness of breath and chest tightness. The small air sacs at the end of the airways that facilitate the extraction of oxygen from the air are normally very elastic and expand and contract easily. In COPD, the air sacs lose their elasticity and do not expand and contract normally. The walls of the air sacs are also often damaged in COPD. Furthermore, the airways become inflamed, swollen and filled with mucus, which inhibits the flow of air into and out of the lungs.
Cancer
Smoking is also a leading cause of cancer: both lung cancer and of cancers of other organs in the body. According to the American Lung Association, 69 of the 4,800 chemicals that cigarette smoke contains are substances that are known to cause cancer. The association also reports that 90 percent of lung cancer deaths are due to smoking cigarettes. The CDC notes that smoking has been linked to several different types of cancer such as acute myeloid leukemia, and cancer developing in the bladder, cervix, esophagus, larynx (voice box), pharynx (throat), mouth, kidney, uterus, stomach and pancreas.
Cardiovascular Disease
The CDC reports that smoking causes coronary heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the U.S. The smoke in cigarettes damages the walls of blood vessels, which can lead to vascular disease. Smoking can also cause an aneurysm in the main blood vessel in the body, the aorta, which runs through the stomach; this condition is called abdominal aortic aneurysm. If the aneurysm bursts, this disease can be fatal.
