home
RSS
January 7th, 2014
04:27 PM ET

Anti-smoking efforts have saved 8 million lives

Fifty years ago, Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry made a bombshell announcement: "The strongest relationship between cigarette smoking and health is in the field of lung cancer. There is a very strong relationship, and probably a causal relationship, between heart disease and cigarette smoking."

It was the first time a surgeon general said that smokers had a 70% greater chance of death and that heavy smokers were 20 times more likely to develop lung cancer than non-smokers.

The landmark report launched one of the biggest public health campaigns in U.S. history, including warning labels on cigarettes, cigarette advertising banned on TV and radio, graphic public service announcements, and anti-smoking laws.

Now a new study in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association - which has devoted its entire issue to tobacco and smoking - estimates that tobacco control efforts since the first Surgeon General's report have added 20 years of life for 8 million Americans. Without tobacco control, half of those Americans would have died before the age of 65.

"The report and subsequent tobacco control efforts represent the most dramatic and successful public health campaign in modern history, in terms of benefit to the entire population," says the study's senior author, David Levy, a population scientist at the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The authors used data from the National Health Interview Surveys to estimate what life without tobacco control would be like, and compared it to smoking and life expectancy trends since 1964.

They also found that tobacco control has extended life expectancy by 2 years for men, and more than 1.5 years for women over the age of 40.

That first surgeon general's report was a flash point for many Americans.  As Stanton Glantz, professor of tobacco control at the University of California, explains: "The surgeon general's report was the beginning of changes in public attitudes in smoking, which began to lay the foundation for a lot of the progress that we've seen today."

Warnings began appearing on cigarette packages across the country. The first simply said: "Smoking could be hazardous to your health."

Over the years, the warnings have become more direct. In 1970, the label read, "The Surgeon General has determined that cigarette smoking is dangerous to our health."

Today, warning labels flat-out say: "Cigarettes are addictive"; "Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease"; and "Smoking can kill you."

Today, almost half of all U.S. residents are covered by some sort of indoor smoking ban, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

And while progress has been made, CDC director Dr. Thomas Frieden told CNN's Sanjay Gupta that there is still work to do.

"Well, it's kind of a glass half empty, glass half full story," Frieden said. "On the one hand, half as high of a percentage of adults smoke, on the other hand it remains the leading preventable cause of death in this country, and if you smoke, quitting is by far the single most important thing you can do to improve your health."

More than 440,000 Americans still die from smoking every year, according to the CDC. And approximately 3,900 people under the age of 17 will pick up a cigarette for the first time this year.

 Post by:
Filed under: Cancer • Public Health • Smoking
Next entry »
« Previous entry
soundoff (83 Responses)
  1. Lisabeth Ledyard

    I don't know about you guys but I love airplanes. I have a friend in highschool that loved airplanes, so here are some airplane related stuff I don't know about you guys but I love airplanes. I had a friend in highschool that loved airplanes, so here are some airplane related stuff https://www.airlinereporter.com/2011/06/pilot-for-frontier-airlines-removes-quadriplegic-passengers/

    http://beyondnewhorizons.com/2012/08/welcome-to-the-jungle/

    June 13, 2021 at 17:17 | Report abuse | Reply
  2. Kristofer Mency

    I don't know about you all but I infatuated with airplanes. I had a friend in highschool that loves airplanes, so here are some airplane related stuff I don't know about you guys but I love airplanes. I had a friend in highschool that loved airplanes, so here are some airplane related stuff https://www.airlinereporter.com/2010/09/airline-livery-of-the-week-full-allegiant-air-livery-on-boeing-757/

    http://everydayliteracies.blogspot.com/2004/10/e-selves-angela-thomas-ethnographic.html

    June 13, 2021 at 17:28 | Report abuse | Reply
  3. Mose Zigler

    I don't know about you guys but I love airplanes. I had a friend in highschool that loves airplanes, so here are some airplane related stuff I don't know about you guys but I love airplanes. I had a friend in highschool that loved airplanes, so here are some airplane related stuff https://www.airlinereporter.com/2010/03/house-cleaning-interesting-stories-i-didne28099t-blog/

    http://everydayliteracies.blogspot.com/2014/05/imagination-wanted-mobile-devices-in.html?showComment=1476865055581

    June 13, 2021 at 23:57 | Report abuse | Reply
  4. Roxana Vent

    Have you ever heard of second life (sl for short). It is essentially a game where you can do anything you want. Second life is literally my second life (pun intended lol). If you would like to see more you can see these Second Life articles and blogs

    http://myvedana.blogspot.com/2007/06/storylines.html?showComment=1182808380000&m=0

    June 15, 2021 at 03:48 | Report abuse | Reply
  5. Jamar Dool

    Have you ever heard of second life (sl for short). It is essentially a game where you can do anything you want. sl is literally my second life (pun intended lol). If you would like to see more you can see these Second Life articles and blogs

    http://myvedana.blogspot.com/2011/07/modern-disease.html?m=0

    June 15, 2021 at 08:46 | Report abuse | Reply
  6. Fabian Bushorn

    Have you ever heard of second life (sl for short). It is essentially a online game where you can do anything you want. sl is literally my second life (pun intended lol). If you want to see more you can see these second life websites and blogs

    http://amusingspace.blogspot.com/2008/08/indefinite-obects-elusive-objects-or.html

    June 21, 2021 at 17:13 | Report abuse | Reply
  7. Mayola Edmonston

    Have you ever heard of second life (sl for short). It is essentially a online game where you can do anything you want. Second life is literally my second life (pun intended lol). If you want to see more you can see these sl websites and blogs

    http://myvedana.blogspot.com/2006/10/live-post.html?showComment=1450688655730&m=0

    June 21, 2021 at 17:23 | Report abuse | Reply
  8. Kellye Grant

    Have you ever heard of second life (sl for short). It is basically a video game where you can do anything you want. sl is literally my second life (pun intended lol). If you would like to see more you can see these Second Life websites and blogs

    http://digitalnarratives.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html

    June 21, 2021 at 22:15 | Report abuse | Reply
  9. Miesha Decurtis

    Great website. Thank you for the information can i learn spanish online for free?

    https://www.spanishtogo.app

    June 25, 2021 at 14:13 | Report abuse | Reply
1 2

Post a comment


  

CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the Rules of Conduct set forth in our Terms of Service. Comments are not pre-screened before they post. You agree that anything you post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the license you have granted pursuant to our Terms of Service.

Next entry »
« Previous entry
Advertisement
About this blog

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the latest stories from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen and the CNN Medical Unit producers. They'll share news and views on health and medical trends - info that will help you take better care of yourself and the people you love.