Death toll from smoking may be higher than previously thought: Study

A new study has found that dozens of diseases may be linked to smoking beyond the 21 that the US surgeon general lists, putting the death toll from smoking  higher than previously thought,  National Public Radio reported on Thursday.

According to a study in the New England Journal of Medicine, 'Smoking and Mortality — Beyond Established Causes', more than a dozen other diseases other than previously linked to tobacco may have contributed to 17 per cent excess deaths among smokers. An estimated 437,000 people die every year from smoking-related diseases.

In the study, scientists from the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute and several universities tracked nearly a million people for a decade and recorded their causes of death.

Researchers expectantly found that smokers were more likely to die of lung cancer, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, esophageal cancer, mouth cancer and other diseases that have previously been linked to smoking. But they also discovered other causes which were more common among smokers such as kidney failure, liver cirrhosis and certain types of heart and respiratory diseases which were previously not linked to tobacco.

The study's author strategic director of pharmacoepidemiology at the American Cancer Society Eric Jacobs, said that for five of the diseases added to the list, smokers were twice as susceptible than non-smokers to die from them.

However, the study (which specifically probed smoking — not the use of snuff or other forms of smokeless tobacco) failed to establish clear causal links and only points to an association with smoking. The case grows weaker with smokers more likely to consume alcohol.

A spokesperson for the surgeon general, however, said that they will not be revising the official list of 21 diseases based on this study alone. But, the findings will be considered in future assessments.