Four Major Conclusions of the Surgeon General's Report

Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.

Quitting smoking has immediate as well as long-term benefits, reducing risks for diseases caused by smoking and improving health in general.

Smoking cigarettes with lower machine-measured yields of tar and nicotine provides no clear benefit to health.

The list of diseases caused by smoking has been expanded to include abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, cervical cancer, kidney cancer, pancreatic cancer, pneumonia, periodontitis, and stomach cancer.  These are in addition to diseases previously known to be caused by smoking, including bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, and throat cancers, chronic lung diseases, coronary heart and cardiovascular diseases, as well as reproductive effects and sudden infant death syndrome.

Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative impacts on people at all stages of life.  It harms unborn babies, infants, children, adolescents, adults, and seniors.

Source: 
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The Health Consequences of Smoking:  A Report of the   Surgeon General.  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004

No matter what your age or how longed you’ve smoked, quitting will help you live longer.