Tobacco and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Smoking tobacco products is the number one cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a condition that includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.Footnote 1Footnote 2Footnote 3Footnote 4

Key facts about tobacco use and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

  • Someone with COPD who smokes is 22 to 26 times more likely to die from COPD than someone who does not smoke.Footnote 2
  • Approximately 80% of deaths from COPD are due to smoking.Footnote 3
  • The risk of dying from COPD increases with the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the number of years smoking.Footnote 4Footnote 5
  • More than 2 million Canadians 35 years and older were living with diagnosed COPD in 2015-2016.Footnote 6 Evidence suggests there are many more cases of undiagnosed COPD.Footnote 7Footnote 8
  • COPD caused by smoking was responsible for 8,689 deaths in Canada in 2012.Footnote 9

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What is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a slowly progressing disease that causes the narrowing or blocking of the lungs and airways. This results in poor oxygen flow to the lungs, making it hard to breathe.

The main symptom of COPD is shortness of breath while doing everyday activities. COPD causes frequent coughing and excess phlegm. If someone is diagnosed with emphysema and/or chronic bronchitis they are considered to have COPD.Footnote 10

Emphysema is the gradual and irreversible damage of lung tissue, resulting in shortness of breath.Footnote 10

Chronic bronchitis is the inflammation of the main airways of the lungs, resulting in a long-term cough that produces phlegm.Footnote 10

COPD symptoms take several years to evolve.Footnote 10 There is no cure for COPD, but it can be treated with drugs, oxygen therapy, and surgery.

How does tobacco use increase the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

Some of the chemicals in tobacco smoke can injure the airways and lungs. These chemicals irritate the cilia (hair-like structures lining the airways) which are essential to the natural filtering and cleaning processes of the lung.Footnote 11 This irritation impairs the body's ability to clear mucus and foreign material from the lungs.

Some of these chemicals can also damage the lungs, leading to increased difficulty in breathing over time.Footnote 11

How does quitting reduce the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease?

Quitting smoking is the single most effective intervention in preventing further damage to the lungs and slowing the progression of COPD.Footnote 12

When people stop smoking, the risk of COPD starts to decrease, and respiratory symptoms, most notably a chronic cough, often improve compared to those who continue to smoke.Footnote 13

Quitting reduces the risk of dying from COPD.Footnote 13

Health benefits of quitting tobacco use at any age

Quitting tobacco use reduces the risk of premature death, improves health, and enhances quality of life.Footnote 12 Quitting at any age is beneficial to one's health.Footnote 12 Even people who have smoked or used tobacco heavily for many years benefit from it.Footnote 12Footnote 14 Quitting is the most important thing someone who smokes can do to improve their health.

Read more about the benefits of quitting smoking.

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Footnotes

Footnote 1

Surgeon General. Reducing the Health Consequences of Smoking: 25 Years of Progress. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.

Return to footnote 1 referrer

Footnote 2

Thun M, Carter B, Feskanich D et al. 50-year trends in smoking-related mortality in the United States. NEJM. 2013;368:351-364. doi: 10.1056/NEJMsa1211127.

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Footnote 3

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2014.

Return to footnote 3 referrer

Footnote 4

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 1984.

Return to footnote 4 referrer

Footnote 5

U.S. National Institutes of Health. National Cancer Institute. Tobacco Control research. Smoking and Tobacco Control Monographs. Monograph 9: Cigars: Health Effects and Trends, 1998.

Return to footnote 5 referrer

Footnote 6

Report from the Canadian Chronic Disease Surveillance System: Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, 2018. https://doi.org/10.24095/hpcdp.38.10.05

Return to footnote 6 referrer

Footnote 7

Evans J, Chen Y, Camp PG, Bowie DM, McRae L. Estimating the prevalence of COPD in Canada: Reported diagnosis versus measured airflow obstruction. Health Reports, Statistics Canada. 2014;25(3): 3-11.

Return to footnote 7 referrer

Footnote 8

Preteroti M, Whitmore GA, Vandemheen KL, FitzGerald JM, Lemière C, Boulet LP, et al. Population-based case-finding to identify subjects with undiagnosed asthma or COPD. European Respiratory Journal. 2020;55(6):2000024. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00024-2020

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Footnote 9

Dobrescu A, Bhandari A, Sutherland G, Dinh T. The costs of tobacco use in Canada, 2012. Ottawa, ON. The Conference Board of Canada; 2017. https://www.conferenceboard.ca/temp/4b734826-5325-4186-a720-b4b2e09e3615/9185_Costs-Tobacco-Use_RPT.pdf

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Footnote 10

The MERCK Manuals Online Medical Library. The MERCK Manual for Health Care Professionals [www.merckmanuals.com]. 2019. Available from: https://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/pulmonary-disorders/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-and-related-disorders/chronic-obstructive-pulmonary-disease-copd

Return to footnote 10 referrer

Footnote 11

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2010.

Return to footnote 11 referrer

Footnote 12

2020 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2020.

Return to footnote 12 referrer

Footnote 13

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 1990.

Return to footnote 13 referrer

Footnote 14

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health; 2004.

Return to footnote 14 referrer

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