When the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in July, 2011 that the federal government cannot be drawn into lawsuits against tobacco companies and held liable for damages, the issue of smoking and health were once again in the headlines.

The best way to revisit the health and smoking issue is to use a factsheet published recently for public consumption by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is the latest, most objective, most research-based, and most comprehensive presentation of the health risks of smoking.

A. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body.

B. Smoking and Death
a. Smoking causes death . In the US, an estimated 443,000 deaths, or nearly one of every five deaths, each year in the United States are attributed to cigarettes.
b. Smoking causes more deaths than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol use, motor vehicle injuries, suicides, and murders combined.
c. Smoking causes an estimated 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women. d. Smoking causes an estimated 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive lung disease.

C. Smoking and Increased Health Risks Compared with nonsmokers, smoking is estimated to increase the risk of coronary heart disease by 2 to 4 times; stroke by 2 to 4 times; men developing lung cancer by 23 times; women developing lung cancer by 13 times; and dying from chronic obstructive lung diseases (such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema) by 12 to 13 times.

D. Smoking and Cardiovascular Disease
a. Smoking causes coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States.
b. Cigarette smoking causes reduced circulation by narrowing the blood vessels (arteries) and puts smokers at risk of developing peripheral vascular disease (i.e., obstruction of the large arteries in the arms and legs that can cause a range of problems from pain to tissue loss or gangrene).

c. Smoking causes abdominal aortic aneurysm (i.e., a swelling or weakening of the main artery of the body—the aorta—where it runs through the abdomen).

E. Smoking and Respiratory Disease
a. Smoking causes lung cancer.
b. Smoking causes lung diseases (e.g., emphysema, bronchitis, chronic airway obstruction) by damaging the airways and alveoli (i.e., small air sacs) of the lungs.

F. Smoking and Cancer Smoking causes the following cancers: acute myeloid leukemia; bladder cancer; cancer of the cervix; cancer of the esophagus; kidney cancer; cancer of the larynx (voice box); lung cancer; cancer of the oral cavity (mouth); cancer of the pharynx (throat); stomach cancer; cancer of the uterus.

G. Smoking and Other Health Effects Smoking has many adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, including increased risk for: infertility; preterm delivery; stillbirth; low birth weight, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Author's Bio: 

Cathrine Margit Moller was born and raised in DenmarkShe began her career in radio and television, and worked in that capacity until moving to Canada in 1998.

For the past twenty-six years, she has pursued a career in the healing arts at the same time, focusing on alternative health care and healing. By training under some of the leading wellness experts in the world, Cathrine keeps escalating her quest toward personal excellence, so she can offer you the best of the healing arts. This has included studies in Denmark, the U.S., Canada, and England, studying under leading experts in alternative medicine.

Her background in hypnotherapy is extensive. In 1999, she was certified Hypnotist by the 'National Guild of Hypnotists' and certified Master Hypnotist at the 'Ontario Hypnosis Centre' in 2000. Her work in hypnosis and hypnotherapy is diverse, and includes clinical use of hypnosis designed to empower her clients in areas ranging from the stresses and problems of their everyday lives, to past life regressions, and Self-Hypnosis training. She has also been certified as a hypnocoach by Dr. Lisa Halpin.Her expertise also includes Somatic Healing, Reconnective Healing, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), NGH, and Reiki, all of which offer powerful but simple solutions to a range of physical and emotional issues. She also offers NLP, which offers additional access to identifying self-limiting behaviors. These techniques are discussed at more length elsewhere on this site.

Her Personal Mission StatementCathrine sees people as incredible beings of infinite potential, whom she can empower and guide toward fulfilling on their goals and their dreams. As an Intuitive, Cathrine knows the Universe and trusts it to steer her in the right direction. Her goal is to help people, and enable them to find their full potential, physically, emotionally and spiritually. Her greatest joy is in seeing a person evolve into all they can become, on every level.

She looks for the miracles in everyday life, and uses them to connect strongly to the forces that enable her to tap into the forces that have shaped a person’s life. As an intuitive, she uses her abilities to uncover the old and unproductive patterns that keep people “stuck,” working with them to purge the unproductive patterns that entrap them.

Cathrine’s own life has had personal challenges that have informed and transformed her, the most significant being when she was diagnosed with apparent MS. Rather than regarding this as a limitation, she has embraced it and used for personal transformation. Working with it in her personal practice, she has not only brought herself back to good health, but has used it to inform and illuminate her life’s path