Cigarette Deaths & Disease: “The Problem is NOT the Nicotine”, It’s the Smoke

The problem is not the nicotine,” says Dr. Michael Lucia, a Nevada pulmonary and sleep specialist, “it is the delivery system [cigarettes] which causes so many health problems. Smoking is the single greatest threat to health because it damages every organ in the body. It is a multi-system disease.” Lucia says 15 types of cancer are directly related to smoking, as well as many other ailments, including heart and vascular disease.

The CDC says smoking causes abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, pneumonia, periodontitis, and stomach cancer, plus bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers; chronic lung diseases; coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases; and reproductive effects and sudden infant death syndrome.

According to the American Lung Association, smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. Thousands more die from other tobacco-related causes such as fires caused by smoking and smokeless tobacco use.

Quitting smoking will reduce risks for diseases and improve health in general.

Stop smoking. Switch to snus.