Tobacco Use and Heart Disease Fact Sheet

Smoking cigarettes has been labeled “the single most preventable cause of disease and death in the United States” by the Surgeon General. In the United States, an estimated 20.8 percent of adults smoke, accounting for about one out of every five deaths a year.(1) Smokeless tobacco should not be considered a safe alternative to cigarettes, either. Smokeless tobacco increases the risk of high blood pressure—which can lead to cardiovascular disease—and increases the chances of stroke. All forms of tobacco use increase risk factors associated with coronary heart disease.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke—primary types of cardiovascular disease caused by smoking—are the first and third leading causes of death in the United States.

More than 61 million Americans suffer from some form of cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure and other conditions. More than 2,600 Americans die everyday due to cardiovascular diseases, which comes to about one death every 33 seconds.(2)

Smoking-related heart disease results in more deaths per year than smoking-related lung cancer.

Women who smoke and use oral contraceptives greatly increase their risk of CHD and stroke.

Smokers’ risk of developing CHD is two to four times greater than that of non-smokers.(5)

Coronary heart disease is substantially reduced within one to two years of cessation.(6)

The risk of stroke also decreases steadily after stopping the use of tobacco. Past smokers have the same stroke risk as nonsmokers after five to 15 years.(7)

For more information on the correlation between tobacco use and heart disease, please visit www.adha.org or see your local dental hygienist. For information on tobacco cessation, please visit www.askadviserefer.org.

1.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adult Cigarette Smoking in the United States: Current Estimates. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/adult_cig_smoking.htm. Accessed October 16, 2008.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2004/. Accessed October 15, 2008.

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. State Cardiovascular Disease Highlights, 1997.

4. American Heart Association. Cigarette Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4545. Accessed October 15, 2008.

5. American Heart Association. Risk Factors and Coronary Heart Disease. Available at: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4726. Accessed October 16, 2008.

6. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2001 Surgeon General’s Report—Women and Smoking. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2001/. Accessed October 17, 2008.

7.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/sgr_2004/. Accessed October 15, 2008.