Holy Smokes: Number of American Smokers Dwindles, CDC Reports

What a drag for cigarette companies.

Cigarette smoking among adults in America is at its lowest level on record, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced Wednesday.

The rate of people smoking dropped from 20.9 percent in 2005 to 17.8 percent in 2013, the lowest rate since the CDC’s Nation Health Interview Survey began keeping records in 1965. Despite an increase in the U.S. population, the total number of adult smokers dropped from 45.1 million in 2005 to 42.1 million in 2013.

More from Newsweek.

Best & Worst States at Combating the High Cost of Lung Cancer

Lung cancer is a costly disease. It claims more lives in the U.S. than the next three most common types of cancer combined: colon, breast and pancreatic. And the chance of surviving lung cancer is equally disappointing — an underwhelming 16.6 percent, compared with 64.2 percent for colon cancer and 89.2 percent for breast cancer — calling for heightened attention to the deadly disease.

Not only is lung cancer physically and emotionally taxing, it also imposes an astounding financial toll on both the person it afflicts and the rest of society. According to the most recent National Institutes of Health estimates, the disease accounted for $12.1 billion of total cancer care costs in 2010. Five years earlier, premature deaths from lung cancer among adults aged 20 and older resulted in $36.1 billion in lost productivity.

Although many governments and organizations have implemented various measures, such as smoke-free bans and tobacco product regulations, to curb the prevalence of lung cancer, another 224,210 new patients were expected to be diagnosed with the illness this year alone.

Advancing the cause of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, WalletHub ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia in terms of their efforts to combat the expensive societal and economic impacts of the disease.

(NEW YORK IS IN THE TOP SIX OVERALL.)

More from WalletHub.

Surgeon General's Reports on Smoking and Tobacco Use

In honor of CVS banning the sale of tobacco products in its 7,600+ stores by October 1:
Surgeon General's Reports on Smoking and Tobacco Use. From the 2014 report:

In the last 50 years, 31 Surgeon General’s Reports have been released, increasing our understanding of the devastating health and financial burdens caused by tobacco use. We now know that smoking causes a host of cancers and other illnesses and is still the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing 443,000 people each year.

How Secondhand Smoke Affects the Brain

From the article:

Secondhand smoke has a direct, measurable impact on the brain similar to what's seen in the person doing the smoking, according to a new study. The finding highlights the importance of limiting exposure to secondhand smoke in cars and other enclosed spaces.

When not exposed to smoke (top image), brains show high levels (red and yellow) of a tracer molecule that binds to empty nicotine receptors. After 1 hour of exposure to secondhand smoke (bottom), nicotine displaces and reduces the level of tracer molecules.Image courtesy of Brody et al., Archives of General Psychiatry.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death nationwide. People who smoke are up to 6 times more likely than non-smokers to suffer a heart attack. Tobacco is also one of the strongest cancer-causing agents. Up to 90% of lung cancer deaths are attributed to smoking.

But the smoker isn't the only one harmed by cigarette smoke. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 50,000 deaths per year can be attributed to secondhand smoke. A Surgeon General's Report in 2006 concluded that secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults. It also causes serious health conditions in children, including sudden infant death syndrome, respiratory infections and more severe asthma.

State-Specific Smoking-Attributable Mortality and Years of Potential Life Lost

For the United States, 2000--2004