On December 9, 2010, the Surgeon General released How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General.
This report explains in detail how tobacco smoke causes disease. It describes the ways tobacco smoke damages every organ in the body and causes disease and death.
Key Findings from the Report
The scientific evidence reviewed in the 2010 Surgeon General’s report supports the following:
- There is no safe level of exposure to tobacco smoke.
- Inhaling the complex chemical mixture in tobacco smoke causes immediate damage to the body and leads to seriously bad health outcomes: cancer, heart disease, and lung disease.
- The risk and severity of the many bad health outcomes caused by smoking are directly related to the time and amount of exposure to tobacco smoke.
- Tobacco products are powerfully addicting and can lead to long-term smoking.
- Even low levels of exposure to smoke, including exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, can trigger heart attacks and asthma attacks.
- There is not enough evidence to support the claim that by changing to the design or content of cigarettes one could reduce the risk of these bad health outcomes.
Learn more about the report by visiting the CDC website.
