The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report in its journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, according to which the habit of smoking continues to make more victims among Americans with Kentucky and West Virginia having the highest death rates.

 

The study looked at death certificate data from the years 2000 through 2004, especially on those of people that had died of lung cancer and 18 such diseases that are caused by smoking. It found that the national median was 263 deaths per 100,000 people. The rate fell from 288 per 100,000 people registered in the four-year period ending in 1999.

 

Kentucky and West Virginia were the leaders having a smoking death rate of 371 deaths out of every 100,000 adults age 35 and older, 344 deaths respectively. They were followed by Nevada, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Indiana and Missouri.

 

The lowest rates were registered in Utah (138), Hawaii (167) and Minnesota (215).

 

Smoking alone cannot be seen as a killer, but in people suffering from conditions such as obesity and heart disease, the habit “is like gasoline on the fire,” as it aggravates symptoms leading to death eventually.

 

In a similar report, released last year by the CDC, cigarette smoking caused 443,000 deaths per year in the United States for the years 2000 to 2004. If we also add deaths caused by second hand smoking, there will be around 500,000 deaths per year simply because of smoking.

 

Worldwide, smoking killed 100 million people in the previous century, according to the World Health Organization. The organization cautioned that in the 21st century it could kill one billion people unless something is done.

 

Smoking is estimated to shorten someone’s life by 10 years. On the long run, it may lead to heart disease, stroke, emphysema, osteoporosis, fertility problems and various forms of cancer.