Yahoo! News - Smoking Affects Entire Body - Report
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Smoking causes a range of diseases never before suspected, including cataracts, acute myeloid leukemia and cervical, kidney, pancreatic and stomach cancers, U.S. Surgeon-General Richard Carmona said on Thursday.

The report coincides with a study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that in 2002, 22.5 percent of U.S. adults described themselves as smokers, down slightly from 2001.

Smoking kills an estimated 440,000 Americans a year, Carmona said. He said men who smoke cut their lives short by 13.2 years on average, and female smokers lose 14.5 years.

The poor and less educated continue to be the biggest smokers, and more efforts need to be directed at these groups to encourage them to quit smoking, the CDC said.

Nearly 33 percent of adults living below the poverty level smoked, compared with 22 percent of those above the poverty level.

How can people living below the poverty level afford to smoke? I also wonder if you can show a corrolation between stress levels and smoking- people living at the poverty level are living under a lot of stress, and smokes are one great stress-reducer.