- According to the World Health Organization, there are 1.3 billion smokers in the world today. If the trend continues, that number is expected to increase to 1.6 billion by the year 2025.
- More than a third of the world’s smokers are Chinese, who consume approximately 1.7 trillion cigarettes annually or roughly three million cigarettes per minute. One of every three cigarettes smoked globally is in China.
- Around 10 million cigarettes are purchased per minute; 15 billion are sold per day and 5 trillion are produced and consumed each year.
- On average, smoking will reduce 13 years of your life expectancy and that figure will go higher up to 16 years if someone is suffering from HIV.
- Smoking not just causes lung cancer but it can also invite several other cancers like that of the bladder, blood, bone marrow, cervix, colon, esophagus, kidneys, larynx, liver, mouth, pancreas, rectum, stomach, and throat. The risk of coronary heart disease and stroke increases by anywhere from 200% to 400% in those who smoke regularly and they also have a 50% chance of dying from a smoking-related disease.
- If ingested whole, nicotine in five cigarettes is enough to kill an average adult. On average, a smoker takes 1 to 2 milligrams of nicotine per cigarette, of which 0.03 milligrams is absorbed into the bloodstream.
- Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,800 chemicals, of which more than 250 are known to be harmful, more than 69 are known to cause cancer, and 11 are classified as Group I carcinogens (cancer-causing agents).
- Some of these harmful chemicals include:
- Arsenic– used in rat poison, Formaldehyde– fluid used to preserve human remains, Tar– material for paving roads; Nicotine– used as an insecticide; Cadmium- active component in battery acid
- Out of the 8 million smoking-related deaths reported globally each year, 1.2 million are due to second-hand smoke (also known as sidestream smoke) which comes from the lighted end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, or tobacco burning in a hookah.
- This kind of smoke is high on nicotine concentrations and cancer-causing agents (carcinogens) than mainstream smoke.
- Tobacco kills over 8 million people each year which also means one smoking-related death every five seconds. Cigarette smoking accounts for more deaths each year than deaths from HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, car accidents, suicides, and murders combined.
- Regardless of one’s gender, long-term smoking can also lead to infertility issues. Men may experience less sperm count and erectile dysfunction. For girls, it can mean trouble with becoming pregnant and dangers to the baby.
- There is a myth among people with disorders like anxiety or depression that smoking will relieve them from stress it actually increases anxiety and stress levels, leading to a risk of a heart attack.
- Smoking makes the signs of aging more obvious. For example, it makes the hair look brittle and less shiny, with more split ends; it also leads to a drier, pastier skin that can develop more wrinkles than non-smokers of the same age.