Surgeon General Issues
34th Report On The Health Effects Of Smoking
You
don’t see people smoking very much in public in the United States
anymore. You think the smoking problem is largely resolved. Well,
according to the latest Surgeon General’s report, you should think
again.
Smoking
among American adults is at an all time low of 14%, but it remains the
leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in
the United States. More than 34 million American adults currently
smoke cigarettes.
The
report reaches the following major conclusions:
·
Smoking cessation benefits persons at any age.
·
Smoking cessation reduces the risk of premature death
and can add as much as a decade to life expectancy.
·
Smoking places a substantial financial burden on
smokers, healthcare systems, and society. Smoking cessation reduces
this burden.
·
More than 3 out of 5 U.S. adults who have ever smoked
cigarettes have quit; however, less than one-third use FDA-approved
cessation medications or behavioral counseling.
·
Disparities in key indicators of smoking cessation
exist among subgroups within the U.S. population — including quit
attempts, receiving advice to quit from a health professional, and
using cessation therapies.
·
Smoking cessation reduces the risk of many negative
health effects, including reproductive health outcomes, cardiovascular
diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (or COPD), and
numerous cancers.
·
Cessation medications approved by the FDA and
behavioral counseling increase the likelihood of successfully quitting
smoking, particularly when used in combination.
·
Insurance coverage for smoking cessation treatment that
is comprehensive, barrier-free, and widely promoted increases the use
of these treatment services, leads to higher rates of successful
quitting, and is cost-effective.
·
E-cigarettes, a continually changing and diverse group
of products, are used in a variety of ways. Therefore, it is difficult
to make generalizations about efficacy for cessation based on clinical
trials involving a particular e-cigarette. There is presently
inadequate evidence to conclude that e-cigarettes, in general,
increase smoking cessation.
According to the University of Colorado epidemiologist Jonathan
Samet who has helped to author 13 of the total 34 Surgeon General
reports on the health effects of smoking, “the last conclusion merits
emphasis as some advocates for e-cigarettes for harm reduction claim
that they help smokers quit…
In the
end, evidence is ever stronger on the benefits of smoking cessation.
The 56 years with 34 Surgeon Generals’ reports on the health effects
of smoking have one unifying message: Don’t start, and if you
did—quit.”
To read
Samet’s review of the impact of the key Surgeon General reports on
smoking, including the landmark 1964 report which reached the
conclusion that smoking is the cause of lung cancer in men, read the
Dean’s Note in the news section of the University of Colorado School
of Public Health at:
http://bit.ly/37WVrNL
To read
or obtain the full Surgeon General’s report, visit:
http://bit.ly/3a2cAaz
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