Monday, February 06, 2012

Tobacco dependence:treatment


Why Should I Treat Tobacco Dependence?

Tobacco use stands out as the chief avoidable cause of illness and death in our society. Tobacco use is a known cause of multiple cancers, heart disease, stroke, complications of pregnancy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), oral health issues and it exacerbates many other conditions such as asthma and diabetes and compromises wound or surgical healing. In addition, recent research has documented the substantial health dangers of involuntary exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. Globally, 1.3 billion people are current smokers and about 650 million persons will die prematurely of tobacco-related disease. In the United States about 21% of adult Americans (45 million) continue to smoke, and more than 435,000 Americans die prematurely from tobacco use. Each day in the U.S. approximately 4,000 youth ages 12 to 17 smoke their first cigarette and 1,200 children and adolescents become daily smokers. The toll of tobacco use and the enormous health and economic burden it imposes on individuals and society will continue to rise worldwide and up to half of all persistent tobacco users will die prematurely./.../

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