Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer talks about the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.

A study published this month in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that anti-smoking measures over the past fifty years have saved approximately 8 million American lives. According to the Journal report, more than 42% of U.S. adults smoked in the years preceding the 1964 Surgeon General’s report warning of the hazards of smoking, and that rate has dropped to about 18% today. Their report states that tobacco controls have contributed substantially to increases in U.S. life expectancy.

Although this is positive news, The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., causing more than 440,000 deaths each year and leaving 8.6 million people to live with a serious illness caused by smoking.

Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer, Bob Munley, said that smoking is still a problem with 43 million people still smoking in the U.S. Munley said that heart disease, cancer, lung disease and stroke, are all often linked with smoking and are leading causes of death in this country. If you have questions relating to an illness caused by smoking, you can contact the personal injury lawyers at www.munley.com.

The CDC reports that smoking causes about 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men and 80% in women. It also causes about 90% of all deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The report further states that cigarette smokers are at greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels and that cigarette smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body.

The tobacco industry spends more than $8 billion a year to market cigarettes and other tobacco products in this country, with much of the marketing aimed at young people. The FDA is now launching a new, widespread anti-smoking campaign. The FDA has committed $300 million to the campaign and anti-smoking ads in 2014 and 2015. While a large sum of the money will initially be used to target teens that have never smoked or are intermittent tobacco users, most will be aimed at young people with higher risks of becoming addicted to tobacco.

Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer, Bob Munley, encourages people to make a plan to quit smoking and stick with it because quitting can help reduce all of these health risks. He encourages the continuation of vigorous campaigns to educate people on the dangers of smoking and the restriction of advertising and sales to minors.