These three actions, along with others, seem to underlie the fivefold to nineteen-fold increase in the risk of death from coronary heart disease in smokers as compared to nonsmokers. If the smoker has pre-existing hypertension or diabetes, the risk is magnified. In the lungs, the cancer used to attack the upper trunks until they introduced reduced tar and nicotine filters. Now the cancer attacks the smaller, outer branches of the lungs. Both types are fatal.
Smoking is also the major cause of cancers of the mouth, voice box, and throat.
The use of alcohol along with smoking increases the incidence of these problems. It has been determined that nonsmokers exposed to passive smoking have a coronary death rate 20 to 70 percent higher than nonsmokers not exposed to passive smoking. Effects During Pregnancy. More than 2,000 infant deaths per year are attributed to maternal smoking. There is also evidence that infants born of smoking mothers may be growth retarded as compared to those born of nonsmoking mothers.