Smoking and health

Abstract

The health consequences of cigarette smoking are reviewed. Sections include the effects of cigarette smoking on the incidence of cardiovascular disease, cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The consequences of passive smoking, including the effects of smoking during pregnancy are also reviewed. The relationship of smoking to cardiovascular disease is well established and unequivocal. Cigarette smoking is a major cause of atherosclerotic disease and is considered one of the three major risk factors for coronary heart disease. Cigarette smoking is considered the major single cause of cancer deaths. Many studies have confirmed the causal relation between smoking and lung cancer and have provided additional evidence implicating cigarette smoking as a cause of cancer of the oral cavity, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, stomach, pancreas, and cervix. In addition cigarette smoking is also the leading cause of pulmonary illness and death from diseases of the respiratory system including COPD, asthma, influenza and pneumonia. Cigarette smoking has been shown to lead to an accelerated decline of the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) in adults and to cause impaired lung growth in children and adolescents. Passive smoking also is major risk factor for all smoking related diseases. The effects of smoking during pregnancy include diminished birth weight, increased prenatal mortality, and respiratory illness in childhood.