I believe the most important thing an individual can do for his or her health is to not smoke. Smoking has been identified as the most important preventable cause of disease and premature death by the U.S. Surgeon General. There are over 350,000 deaths each year that are directly related to smoking. This is more than the total number of American lives lost in World War I, Korea and Vietnam combined.
Smoking mainly causes death through heart attacks, cancer, and lung disease.
Five and one-half minutes of life are lost for each cigarette smoked. This reduces the overall life expectancy by 5-8 years. The lifetime medical costs for smokers, despite their shorter lives, are higher than those for nonsmokers by approximately one third. What these figures do not reflect is the quality of life. These people are miserable in their later years.