Tobacco and the 
Health of Canadians

Smoking Rates in Canada 1965-2003

 

Cigarettes are the leading cause of preventable death

• 45,000 Canadians die from smoking each year - and the number is still growing.

• Smoking is responsible for one in five deaths in Canada. This is roughly five times the number of deaths caused by car accidents, suicides, drug abuse, murder and AIDS combined. The chance of dying from smoking for long-time smokers is 1 in 2. Deaths from smoking result in 15 years loss of expected life, on average.

• About half the deaths from smoking happen before the smoker reaches 70 years of age. These smokers lose an average of 22 years of life. Older persons (70 and over) who die because of smoking lose an average of 8 years of life expectancy.

• Of the 45,000 deaths each year:
  29,000 are among men
  16,000 are among women
  100 are among infants

Sources: Health Canada,  National Clearinghouse on Tobacco and Health, Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse.
 

• 17,600 Cardiovascular Deaths

Coronary heart disease and stroke are 2 to 4 times more common in smokers than non-smokers. 

Cigarettes cause: · Heart attacks and sudden cardiac death (ischemic heart disease) · Stroke (cerebrovascular disease) · Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis and peripheral vascular disease) - leg pain, difficulty walking, gangrene, amputations, aneurisms.

• 17,700 Cancer Deaths 

Smoking is responsible for 30% of all cancer deaths. Smoking causes cancer of the: · Lungs · Oral cavity · Pharynx · Larynx · Esophagus · Pancreas · Kidney · Bladder

• 9,500 Respiratory Deaths 

Smoking accounts for 80 - 90% of all chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Far more than all other risk factors, including air pollution and occupational exposure, it causes these conditions. Cigarettes cause or increase the risk of · chronic bronchitis · emphysema · pneumonia

• = 45,000 Deaths Per Year in Canada

Cigarettes will soon kill as many women as men

• Until the 1970s and 1980s, women smoked at much lower rates than men in Canada. Because cigarettes take about 20 years to kill most smokers, the impact of smoking on women's death rates is becoming more evident.

• Smoking deaths among women increased from 9,009 in 1985 to 15,986 in 1996, an increase of 77%. The number of deaths among men remained relatively constant.

• "As a result of the dramatic rise in female smokers in the 1960s and 1970s, it is expected that female smoking-related deaths will continue to rise until the turn of the century and may reach, or even exceed, male levels by the year 2005." - Health Canada Press Release, Jan 1999

• Cigarettes kill 43 Canadian women each day · 

• Every 35 minutes, a Canadian woman dies as a result of smoking. · Lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer. ·

• Women who smoke get more coughs, colds and minor illnesses. · Women who smoke have decreased bone density (osteoporosis) and an increased risk of fracture. · 

• Women who smoke AND use birth control pills are at a much higher risk of stroke or heart disease. · 

• Death by stroke is five times higher in women who smoke. · Smoking doubles the risk of cervical cancer. · 

• Heart disease kills 4 in 10 Canadian women. For women, smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease. · 

• Middle-aged women who smoke are likely to be as wrinkled as non smokers who are 15 to 20 years older.

Source: Health Canada, National Clearinghouse on Tobacco or Health

Cigarettes kill non-smokers

• No Canadian health authority has produced a comprehensive estimate of the number of Canadians who are killed from second-hand smoke, but international scientific reviews indicate that second-hand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death (after smoking and drinking alcohol).

• A decade-old Health Canada review estimates that 300 non-smoking Canadians are killed from lung cancers caused by breathing air polluted with cigarette smoke. More recent government studies agree that at least 800 Canadians die from heart disease caused by smoking.

• Many medical authorities believe that even low-levels of exposure to second-hand smoke can contribute to the development of plaque in the arteries of non-smokers, and thus lead to heart disease and deaths from heart attacks and strokes.

• The most recent and most comprehensive review of the health effects of second-hand smoke was conducted by the California Environmental Protection Agency. It found that 4,700 to 7,400 Californians died from diseases resulting from their exposure to cigarette smoke.

Cigarettes Kill 1 in 3,300 to 1 in 5,500 Canadian Non-Smokers Each Year

• Adults 
  360 lung cancer 
  800 + heart disease

• Children 
  120 Sudden Infant Deaths 
  16-25 Bronchitis/pneumonia

• = 4,696 - 7,945 Non-Smoker Deaths

Sources: California Environmental Protection Agency, 1997

"Light" Cigarettes aren't safer.

• The 'Light' Myth. 
  The label on the side of cigarette packages can be seriously misleading. The values it gives for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide are much lower than those inhaled by real smokers. For more than two decades, cigarette manufacturers have used smoking machines to test the levels of these poisonous compounds. Meanwhile, they have deliberately altered their cigarettes to give artificially low readings.

• Many smokers are deceived by the numbers on the side of the pack. 
  They think if they smoke lower-tar cigarettes they will be inhaling fewer cancer-causing chemicals. The truth is, these cigarettes can give the same - or even higher - levels of carcinogens and toxins.

• Filter Vents: a 'loop-hole' to lower machine readings 
  By inserting tiny holes around the filter to allow extra air to mix with the tobacco smoke, the cigarette companies were able to reduce smoking-machine readings for tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide readings. On some cigarettes, these holes are visible to the human eye; on others, they are almost impossible to see. These holes are most often found on 'light' cigarettes. It is difficult for smokers to avoid covering up the vent-holes. They are difficult to see, and they are placed on the part of the filter where they are automatically covered by fingers and lips.

• Real smokers also inhale more often, and more deeply, than the machine does. 
  For these reasons, smokers inhale much higher levels of cancer-causing tar, addictive nicotine and poisonous carbon monoxide than the levels listed on the package.

• Better Methods - Truer Results 
  In pioneering research, the Office of Tobacco Control of Health Canada has developed new tests which more closely mirror realistic smoking conditions. These tests still use smoking machines, but changes are made so that the machine smokes more like a real person does. This involves: · Measuring bigger 'puffs' (closer to what smokers actually inhale) · 'Puffing' as frequently as smokers do · closing the vent holes on cigarettes Results from tests with these new methods show few differences between brands of cigarettes. Virtually all cigarette brands - even those that are called 'light,' 'extra-light' and 'ultra-light' - yield high levels of tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide.

• The 'light' label fools smokers 
  When asked what they thought "light" meant, almost half of smokers (47%) thought it meant less nicotine; one third (33%) thought it meant less tar. Only 9% thought it had to do with a 'milder taste.'

Source: Health Canada, Survey on Smoking in Canada, 1995; Kozlowski et al. AJPH, 1998, 15(1); Rickert, "smoking under Realistic Conditions." ; BAT Conference on Tobacco Combustion, Parkhills Hotel, 15 & 16 December, 1982.