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Recent Decline in Smokers in U.S. and
the Benefits of Quiting
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The health benefits of smoking cessation
(quitting) are immediate and substantial. Almost immediately, a
person's circulation begins to improve and the level of carbon
monoxide in the blood begins to decline. (Carbon monoxide, a
colorless, odorless gas found in cigarette smoke, reduces the
blood's ability to carry oxygen.) A person's pulse rate and blood
pressure, which may be abnormally high while smoking, begin to
return to normal. Within a few days of quitting, a person's sense
of taste and smell return, and breathing becomes increasingly
easier. |
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People who quit smoking live
longer than those who continue to smoke. After 10 to 15 years, a
previous tobacco user's risk of premature death approaches that of
a person who has never smoked. About 10 years after quitting, an ex-
smoker's risk of dying from lung cancer is 30 percent to 50 percent
less than the risk for those who continue to smoke. Quitting also
reduces the risk of other smoking-related diseases, including heart
disease and chronic lung disease. |
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The popularity of tobacco use
has steadily declined in recent years as adult use continues to
decrease significantly each year. States and localities are
continuing to enact smoke free laws and ordinances which makes the
practice even less socially acceptable. There has been a very
significant recent decrease in the percentage of youth who take up
the habit. There is even some evidence that the U.S. tobacco
industry is beginning to abandon its efforts to oppose legislative
restraints on smoking and even engage in some effort to discourage
smoking. In a recent Senate vote, most Republicans joined Democrats
in approving an expanded role for the Food and Drug Administration
in tobacco control in exchange for a buyout of tobacco farmers. |
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The number of U.S. adults who
smoke continues to decline. Using data from the 2003 National
Health Interview Survey, which surveyed 30,852 adults, researchers
estimate that 45 million adult Americans are smokers. That's 21.6
percent of the adult population. |
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The good news is this marks a
decline from 22.5 percent in 2002 and 22.8 percent in 2001. In
addition, the 46 million adults who have quit smoking now outnumber
the people who continue to smoke. This is the second year in a row
this has occurred, the researchers said. |
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-Nick
Garcia
www.comcuts.com |
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Resources
health.msn.com
www.newsbatch.com
www.cancer.gov
cis.nci.nih.gov
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Also see Medical
including Prostate cancer Research
Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer affecting men in the U.S. According to the American Cancer Society, one in six men will get the disease at some point in his lifetime. But with regular screening, the disease can be detected at an early stage when it is more easily treated and cured. Tests for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and free PSA offered by Beckman Coulter play a vital role in providing safe and effective prostate cancer screening. |
