Lower tar cigarettes do not substantially reduce the risk of heart attack in smokers. If all tobacco-caused cancer deaths could be eliminated, then death rates from other causes of cancer for men and women would be similar in different industrialized countries and would have shown a stable, or even slightly declining trend over the last three or four decades. Smoking is already causing about one-sixth of all deaths in developed countries. This proportion is still rising, mainly due to the increasing epidemic among women. This means that about 200 million out of the 1.2 billion people living in developed countries will eventually be killed by tobacco.
People substantially underestimate the risks of smoking.
Smoking Trends Cigarettes consumption in developing countries has been rising among men over the last three or four decades. In some developing countries, the health effects of this increase in tobacco use are already evident. Most smokers live in developing countries. Asthmatic children are up to 2.5 times more likely to have their condition worsened by passive smoking. In children, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is causally associated with increased prevalence of fluid in the middle ear, symptoms of upper respiratory tract irritation, and a small but significant reduction in lung function.