What was portrayed as an enjoyable and hip past time for the last 50 years has been claiming the lives of more than 440,000 people in the US alone, and over 5 million people worldwide each year without fail. The WHO predicts that smokers' death toll worldwide will rise to 10 million by 2020.  

More than half of smokers eventually die from smoking-related diseases. And half of these deaths are predicted to occur before the age of 65. Unfortunately, the other half who survive death are not spared either. There are at least 8.6 million Americans suffering from painful smoking-related diseases now, awaiting the consequences of their smoking habit.

Smoking-related diseases include cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, heart disease, stroke and stomach ulcers, just to list a few. Symptoms common with smokers include  chest pains, breathlessness, chronic coughs, excessive phlegm, palpitations and bad breath. 

Smoking-related diseases are usually incurable and victims may require long term medication. They can be so serious that in the example of lung cancer, almost 90% of all victims will not live past 5 years after the initial diagnosis. 

It doesn't really take long for smoking-related diseases to develop. Some smokers have reported symptoms in as early as 2 years of average smoking. 

Despite these frightening statistics, there are still about 46.5 million smokers in US and about 1.1 billion others worldwide. With the  consistent death trends for smokers, it is a shame that these smokers will turn victim to their precious habit. 

Fortunately, there is still hope for smokers who quit smoking. Risks of developing smoking-related diseases fall immediately once they stop smoking and gradually decreases to that of someone who has never smoked before.  

**References
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention
Food and Drug Administration
American Lung Association
World Health Organization