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Smoking
taking toll on U.S. women
Monday,
May 21, 2001
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
MEDICAL NOTEBOOK: Joelle Babula
Women are dying today of lung cancer -- a disease primarily
related to cigarette smoking -- at a rate 600 percent higher than
in the 1950s.
According to a recent report from U.S. Surgeon General David
Satcher, smoking-related diseases are epidemic among American
women, with lung cancer topping the list as the leading cause of
cancer deaths.
Approximately 22 percent of U.S. women smoke. Approximately 28
percent of Nevada women smoke cigarettes, with nearly one out of
three adults in the state taking part in the habit. Nevada has the
highest rate of smoking in the country as well as the highest rate
of deaths due to smoking-related diseases.
Findings from the surgeon general's 2001 smoking report include:
• Thirty percent of high school senior girls have smoked in the
past month.
• Seventy-five percent of women who smoke want to quit, but only
2 percent are successful.
• More than 90 percent of lung cancer cases among U.S. women are
due to smoking.
• Exposure to environmental smoke is a cause of lung cancer
among women who are lifetime nonsmokers.
This
story is located at:
http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/May-21-Mon-2001/living/16113312.html
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