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Smoking Among Adults:
Other Health Effects
- Smokers are more likely to
be absent from work than nonsmokers, and their illnesses last longer. (p.
627)
- Smokers tend to incur more
medical costs, to see physicians more often in the outpatient setting, and
to be admitted to the hospital more often and for longer periods than
nonsmokers. (p. 652–653)
- Smokers have a lower
survival rate after surgery compared to that of nonsmokers because of damage
to the body’s host defenses, delayed wound healing, and reduced immune
response. Smokers are at greater risk for complications following surgery,
including wound infections, postoperative pneumonia, and other respiratory
complications. (p. 653)
- Periodontitis is a serious
gum disease that can result in the loss of teeth and bone loss. Smoking is
causally related to periodontitis. This may be because smoking affects the
body’s ability to fight infection and repair tissue. (p. 733,736)
- Peptic ulcers, which are
located in the digestive tract (stomach and duodenum), usually occur in
people with an infection caused by the Helicobacter pylori bacterium.
Among persons with this infection, smokers are more likely to develop peptic
ulcers than nonsmokers. In severe cases, peptic ulcers can lead to death.
(p. 805)
- Although only a small
number of studies have looked at the relationship between smoking and
erectile dysfunction, their findings suggest that smoking may be associated
with an increased risk for this condition. More studies are needed, however,
before researchers can conclude that smoking is causally related to erectile
dysfunction. (p. 776)
Citation
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Health
Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004.
Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative
health impacts on people at all stages of life. It harms unborn babies,
infants, children, adolescents, adults, and seniors.
SGR Fact Sheets
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