Surgeon General’s report: tobacco smoke causes immediate cellular damage

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 today by U.S. 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 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 U.S. Surgeon General and the 30^th tobacco-related Surgeon General’s report since 1964.

"Over the last two years we have stepped up efforts to reduce tobacco use, including implementing legislation to regulate tobacco products, investing in local tobacco control efforts and expanding access to insurance coverage for tobacco cessation" said Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius in the release. "This will remain a key priority of this Administration."

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 claims.

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 claims, describing how certain chemicals in tobacco smoke damage blood vessels and increase the likelihood of blood clots.

Tobacco smoke also complicates blood sugar control, pregnancy and increases the likelihood of sudden infant death syndrome, according to the report.

“This report makes it clear – quitting at any time gives your body a chance to heal the damage caused by smoking,” Benjamin said in the release. “It’s never too late to quit, but the sooner you do it, the better.”

The full report, entitled How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease, is available online at: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/tobaccosmoke/index.html

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