Smoking tied to 14 million major medical cases: study

October 22, 2014

Silver Spring, MD – American adults suffered about 14 million major medical conditions related to smoking in 2009, according to a new report from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Researchers found that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a common lung disease that includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, represented the largest number of smoking-related cases American adults experienced – an estimated 7.5 million cases in 2009.

Other smoking-related medical conditions included:

  • 2.3 million heart attacks
  • 1.8 million cases of diabetes
  • 1.2 million strokes
  • 983,000 cases of cancer other than lung cancer
  • 305,000 cases of lung cancer

Researchers examined data for U.S. adults 35 and older from the 2009 Census Bureau, the 2006-2012 National Health Interview Survey and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

The research was published online Oct. 13 in JAMA Internal Medicine.