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Surgeon General’s report: Tobacco smoke causes immediate cellular damage
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Any exposure to tobacco smoke — including occasional smoking and secondhand smoke — causes immediate cellular damage and tissue inflammation that can lead to serious illness or death, according to a report released recently by US Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA.
“The chemicals in tobacco smoke reach your lungs quickly every time you inhale causing damage immediately,” Benjamin said in a press release. “Inhaling even the smallest amount of tobacco smoke can also damage your DNA, which can lead to cancer.”
The report is Benjamin’s first as US Surgeon General and the 30th tobacco-related Surgeon General’s report since 1964.
The report describes how the chemical mixture in tobacco smoke immediately inflames the lining of the lungs, leading, over time, to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease an emphysema. Repeated exposure to tobacco smoke weakens to body’s ability to heal the damage, the report finds.
The report also explains how cigarettes are designed to be more addictive than ever before. Today’s cigarettes deliver nicotine more quickly and efficiently than cigarettes from previous years, the report said.
Evidence is presented detailing how smoking causes cardiovascular disease and increases the risk for heart attack, stroke and aortic aneurysm. Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease or a heart attack, the report said, describing how certain chemicals in tobacco smoke damage blood vessels and increase the likelihood of blood clots.
Tobacco also smoke complicates blood sugar control, pregnancy and increases the likelihood of sudden infant death syndrome, according to the report.
The full report is available online at: www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/tobaccosmoke/index.html.
Disclosure: Dr. Benjamin has no direct financial interest in any of the products mentioned in this article nor is she a paid consultant for any companies mentioned.