Smoking Statistics

Males tend to have significantly higher rates of smoking prevalence than females. In 2004, 23.4 percent of males currently smoked compared to 18.5 percent of females.

Every time you puff on a cigarette, your blood pressure shoots up like smoke through a chimney. Two cigarettes can raise your readings by about 10 mm Hg systolic and 8 mm Hg diastolic. Now imagine what a half a pack or a whole pack of cigarettes in a day is doing to you!
However, it’s true that the effect doesn’t last for long. After about 15 minutes, your pressure returns to normal. But think about it: If you smoke two packs a day, that’s a total of 40 cigarettes. That’s 40 blood pressure “ups” every 24 hours. If you smoke throughout the day, your blood pressure readings can spike higher than normal hour after hour after hour.
Besides, that’s only part of the story. The real problem is that smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease. If you already have hypertension, adding smoking to your list of risks makes you a serious candidate for a heart attack.

American Lung Association Smoking Statistics

If you’re a smoker, you’ve probably been bombarded with statistics before. Let’s look at some of the most important, courtesy of the American Lung Association:

• More than 430,000 Americans die every year from smoking-related diseases, including those who have heart attacks.
• Cigarettes contain at least 43 cancer-causing chemicals.
  Smoking during pregnancy is responsible for 20 to 30 percent of all low-birth-weight babies.
• Secondhand smoke is very dangerous for children. It causes between 150,000 and 300,000 cases of lower respiratory infections in children every year.
• More American women die annually from lung cancer than from breast cancer.
• In addition to cancer and heart disease (Smoking and Heart Diseases), smoking can also cause infertility, slow wound healing, and stomach ulcers.

 Heart Disease and Hypertension