The weight of respiratory diseases in the health damage caused by tobacco
December 27, 2019
Par: webstudio_editor
Dernière mise à jour: December 27, 2019
Temps de lecture: 3 minutes
Respiratory diseases are one of the leading causes of death, accounting for one in six deaths worldwide. Respiratory diseases are among the most disabling diseases attributable to tobacco, alongside cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Of the 75,000 premature deaths attributable to tobacco in France each year, 12,000 are due to respiratory diseases. In addition to the disability they cause among patients, they represent an enormous health cost linked to primary and hospital care, as well as the loss of productivity of patients who cannot work.
Smoking is by far the leading cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); this term includes both chronic bronchitis and pulmonary emphysema; 85% of COPD cases occur in smokers. The disease makes breathing difficult and laborious, and causes fatal respiratory failure. Approximately 65 million people worldwide suffer from COPD, of whom 3 million die each year, making it the third leading cause of death worldwide.[1]-[2] after cancers and cardiovascular diseases.
Given the "modest" effectiveness of current COPD treatments, the fight against smoking must be a common objective for general practitioners and specialists, particularly pulmonologists.
In addition to COPD, smoking tobacco increases the risk of developing lung cancer by 15 to 30 times and is responsible for 80 to 90% of these cancers. Only 15% of people with lung cancer survive 5 years after diagnosis.[3]. Finally, COPD and lung cancer are frequently caused, and/or aggravated, by passive exposure to tobacco smoke. Therefore, to date, the most effective preventive measure against these diseases is, both, stopping tobacco consumption and exposure to passive and ultra-passive smoking.
©Tobacco Free GenerationTo go further Breath Foundation The COPD website [1] World Health Organization. Global surveillance, prevention and control of chronic respiratory diseases. A comprehensive approach, Geneva, WHO, 2007. http://www.who.int/gard/publications/GARD_Manual/en/ [2] Burney PG, Patel J, Newson R, Minelli C, Naghavi M. Global and regional trends in COPD mortality, 1990-2010. Eur Respir J 2015; 45:1239–1247. http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/45/5/1239 [3] https://cnct.fr/tabac-des-risques-specifiques-sur-lappareil-respiratoire/ | ©National Committee Against Smoking |