Resource Center: tobacco, health consequences

A report on the surgeon general on the health consequences of second hand smoke.

The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General

Details the negative effects of smoking.

Secondhand smoke is a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe or cigar and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers. It is involuntarily inhaled by nonsmokers, lingers in the air hours after cigarettes have been extinguished and can cause or exacerbate a wide range of adverse health effects, including cancer, respiratory infections, and asthma. (From Their Website)

Healthy Lifestyles and Tobacco: A Healthy Old Age Equals No Smoking article

This brochure (en Español) gives smokers and other tobacco users reasons for quitting tobacco. It also describes ways to quit tobacco, such as a combination of setting a quit date, getting support, and taking medication.

Cigarette smoking is the most important preventable cause of premature death in the United States. It accounts for more than 440,000 of the more than 2.4 million annual deaths. Cigarette smokers have a higher risk of developing several chronic disorders. These include fatty buildups in arteries, several types of cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (lung problems). Atherosclerosis (buildup of fatty substances in the arteries) is a chief contributor to the high number of deaths from smoking. Many studies detail the evidence that cigarette smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease, which leads to heart attack. (From Their Website)

Monograph 9 -- Cigars: Health Effects and Trends

Reasons why different people might want to quit tobacco: symptomatic adults, asymptomatic results, people with family history of cancer or heart disease, long-term users, new users, parents, women, pregnant women, teenagers, and any users.

This handout lists potential long- and short-term health effects of nicotine.