Latest Surgeon General Report Expands List of Smoking-Related Diseases

Cigarette smoking can not only lead to lung cancer, but also blindness, diabetes and erectile dysfunction, according to a latest Surgeon General report.

Back in 1964, Surgeon General Dr. Luther Terry released a pivotal report that linked smoking to ill health. Now, half a century later, smoking rates have declined in the U.S., but the health hazards associated with smoking are on the rise. Acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak explains why.

"Smokers today have a greater risk of developing lung cancer than they did when the first Surgeon General's report was released in 1964, even though they smoke fewer cigarettes," said Lushniak, according to AFP. "How cigarettes are made and the chemicals they contain have changed over the years, and some of those changes may be a factor in higher lung cancer risks," Lushniak added.

Some 45.3 million people, or 19.3% of all adults (aged 18 years or older), in the United States smoke cigarettes, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Smoking is linked with cancers of liver, bowel, pancreas, bladder and ovary as well. Smoking affects not just the smokers but also those around them. Secondhand smoke can cause heart disease, breathing problems, dementia and respiratory tract infections.

In the latest report, which is due to be released Friday, the top-doctor added more illnesses to the already-long list of smoking-associated health hazards, The New York Times reported. Smoking can also lead to loss of vision, poor immune system and tuberculosis.

Previous research has shown that smoking is associated with many of these "newly added" diseases. However, this is the first time that a federal report has cited the link between smoking and these illnesses.

Lushniakhas has also criticized tobacco companies for their "fraudulent campaigns" and weak regulating systems that have failed to keep tobacco products under control, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.