ABSTRACT
The year 2014 marked the 50th year anniversary of the initial Surgeon General’s report on the adverse health effects of smoking. Fifty years ago, approximately 43% of the US population smoked cigarettes. Currently, the rate of smoking has plateaued at 18%, an unacceptably high prevalence considering the substantial associated morbidity and mortality. Data from the US National Health Interview Survey show that the relative risk of death is three times higher in smokers than never smokers and smokers die slightly more than a decade earlier than people who have never smoked. Although cardiopulmonary diseases are responsible for the vast majority of deaths related to smoking, it is now understood that smoking affects virtually every organ system.
