WASHINGTON, May 27 (UPI) -- U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona Thursday released a report indicating smoking causes diseases in nearly every human organ.
Forty years after the surgeon general's first report on smoking, the new report conclusively indicates smoking as a cause of leukemia, cataracts, pneumonia and cancers of the cervix, kidney, pancreas and stomach.
"We've known for decades that smoking is bad for your health, but this report shows that it's even worse," Carmona said. "The toxins from cigarette smoke go everywhere the blood flows. I'm hoping this new information will help motivate people to quit smoking and convince young people not to start in the first place."
"We need to cut smoking in this country and around the world," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said. "Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death and disease, costing us too many lives, too many dollars and too many tears. If we are going to be serious about improving health and preventing disease we must continue to drive down tobacco use. And we must prevent our youth from taking up this dangerous habit."
The report concluded that smoking kills 440,000 Americans every year, with annual costs topping $157 billion: $75 billion in direct medical costs and $82 billion in lost productivity.
