Cigarette smoking causes 167,133 deaths in U.S. annually: report

Various categories of cancer caused by cigarette smoking claims more lives than the entire population of Salem, Ore., annually, the U.S. Surgeon General cautioned in a newly released report.

According to the report, twelve categories of cancer caused by cigarette smoking are to be blamed for at least 167,133 deaths in the country in a single year. The smoking-caused 12 categories of cancer include: lung cancer, oropharynx cancer, esophagus cancer, larynx cancer, stomach cancer and bladder cancer.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) warns that cigarette smoking also causes cancers of the throat and mouth.

In addition, smoking is also responsible for around a third of deaths due to coronary heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

The study also found a wide variation in the proportion of smoking-related cancer deaths, ranging from a low of 16.6 per cent in Utah to a high of 34 per cent in Kentucky. The average figure for all states of the U.S. was estimated at 29 per cent.

After Utah, California was found to have the second-lowest percentage of smoking-related cancer deaths, at 25.5 per cent. However, because of the Golden State’s massive size, it was home to the most victims (57,547 in 2014).

The alarming findings of the study were published in the Oct. 24th edition of the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.