There are 43 identified carcinogens in tobacco smoke. The use of tobacco has been implicated in cancers of the mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, lungs, pancreas, cervix, uterus and bladder. Smoking accounts for approximately 30 percent of all cancer deaths, is a major cause of heart disease, and is linked to colds, gastric ulcers, chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Recent studies associated tobacco smoking with incidents of stroke. A history of smoking over a long period of years figures highly in the number of smoking-related cancers.
Mortality rates increase in relation to the daily number of cigarettes smoked.
Persons who have smoked for 20 years or more are at greatest risk for developing smoking-related cancer. Mortality rates increase in relation to the daily number of cigarettes smoked. The American Heart Association estimates that about one-fourth of fatal heart attacks are caused by cigarette smoking, about 120,000 heart attack deaths per year. Tobacco is a major independent risk factor for fatal and non-fatal heart attacks in both men and women. The risk of heart attacks, strokes and blood clots increases ten-fold for women who both smoke and use oral contraceptives.