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Millions
in U.S. Have
Smoking-Related Diseases
Excerpt
by Paul Simao, Reuters Health
At least 8.6 million people in the United
States are living with chronic bronchitis, emphysema and other
serious smoking-related illnesses, according to a new study that
paints a dark picture of the health risks of tobacco.
The study, the first to estimate
the number of people in the United States who have serious lung
disorders or other diseases caused by cigarettes, was published
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday.
Researchers said the findings underscored
a need to expand anti-tobacco programs and increase surveillance
of smoking habits in the nation. There are about 46.5 million
smokers in the United States.
The CDC considers cigarette smoking
to be the leading preventable cause of death in the nation. About
440,000 people die each year from lung cancer and other diseases
related to tobacco use.
The new study found that more than
4.5 million smokers and non-smokers reported having chronic bronchitis
in 2000, making it the most prevalent disease in these groups.
Bronchitis is often marked by a steady recurrent cough.
More than three million people
said they had emphysema, whose symptoms include chronic shortness
of breath.
But Terry Pechacek, the CDC's associate
director of science, said those estimates were conservative because
they relied to a large degree on self-reporting by respondents
who participated in various surveys.
"Many smokers are in some degree
of denial, so we know that this is an underestimate," Pechacek
told Reuters.
In addition to highlighting the
enormous human cost of cigarette smoking, the study noted that
smoking was costing the nation $75 billion in direct medical
costs and $82 billion in lost productivity each year.
The study comes at a time when
casual smoking appears to be on the rise in the nation.
Anti-smoking advocates say the
human and economic costs of smoking could be dramatically reduced
if authorities clamped down on tobacco advertising and raised
taxes on cigarettes to make them less affordable, particularly
to young people.
"We know how to prevent so much
of this tobacco-caused disease and death, but public officials
have not passed the policies or devoted the resources to get the
job done," said Vince Willmore, a spokesman for the Washington-based
anti-tobacco group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
Reference
Source 89
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