This just in -- smoking is bad for you and even worse than you thought. A new surgeon generals report reveals that smoking causes even more harm -- both physically and financially -- than previously estimated, taking the lives of 480,000 Americans a year from a variety of diseases including diabetes, and colorectal and liver cancer. Released today (Friday), the report marks the first time that smoking has been casually linked to these diseases by the surgeon general. And thats just the beginning of the list. The report also says that smoking causes rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction, macular degeneration, inflammation, impairs immune function and increases the chances of death from tuberculosis. Smoking also harms pregnant women and their unborn children by causing birth defects as well as ectopic pregnancy -- the technical term for when a fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tubes instead of the uterus. Even non-smokers arent immune to the bad news. The latest report also finds that secondhand smoke can cause strokes, as well as cancer and heart attacks. Source: USA Today
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 21:40:28 +0000