Despite the well-known dangers of cigarettes, many smokers are still not being advised by their physicians to quit, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said.
“Forty percent of smokers don’t get advised to quit,” Adams said. “That was a shocking statistic to me, and it’s a little embarrassing as a health professional.”
The New York Times said that a new report from Adams urged smokers to use cessation methods that have been proven effective and pointed out e-cigarettes have not. The 700-page report was released on Thursday.
The report cited a 2015 national health survey and noted vulnerable populations are not getting help to stop smoking.
It recommended doctors pay more attention to offering smoking cessation help to gay and transgender people, Native Americans, people with mental illness diagnoses and several other groups with high smoking rates.
“The biggest take-home from this report is that far too many people who want to quit aren’t getting access to the cessation treatments that we know work,” Adams said.
Citing statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, the Times said 16 million people in the U.S. suffer from cancer, heart disease and smoking-related disorders. And it said 34 million Americans still smoke. An estimated 480,000 people die each year from a smoking-related illness.
The report also said quitting smoking could add as much as 10 years to life expectancy.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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