For years the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer and chronic lung disease has been well documented and well known. Most people still associate cigarette smoking with breathing problems. But that's not the whole story.
Cigarette smoking is also a major cause of heart and blood vessel disease.
Each year more than 925,000 Americans die of heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure and other cardiovascular disorders. That's more than two of every five deaths, a life every 34 seconds. And nearly 60 million Americans have some form of these potentially lethal diseases. The fact is that more than 400,000 deaths in the United States every year result from smoking. Environmental Tobacco Smoke Smokers aren't the only ones affected by cigarette smoke.