--- description: Smoking may contribute to the deaths of an additional 60,00-120,000 Americans per year says a new study. title: Smoking May Be More Dangerous Than Previously Thought, Study Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19ac26252192ecb9/69877ef1e20a876743a85127/smoking.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Smoking](/tag/smoking/) ## Smoking Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Smoking May Be More Dangerous Than Previously Thought, Study Says ## Video: Why Obama Quit Smoking [Watch (HLS stream): Why Obama Quit Smoking](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YUSLqVsx.m3u8) (0:13)  _Published 2013-09-24. The president says he's "scared" of Michelle_ by [Kevin McSpadden](/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 12, 2015 11:33 AM CUT  A man smokes outside of a building on June 11, 2009 in New York. A man smokes outside of a building on June 11, 2009 in New York.Spencer Platt—Getty Images by [Kevin McSpadden](/author/kevin-mcspadden/) ## Kevin McSpadden Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 12, 2015 11:33 AM CUT Smoking may contribute to the deaths of an additional [60,00-120,000 Americans](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/health/smokings-health-toll-worse-than-previously-thought-study-says.html?%5Fr=1 "undefined") per year says a new study published by _The New England Journal of Medicine._ From the years 2000 to 2011 researchers followed nearly a million people, including 89,000 current smokers, and concluded that smoking increased the risk of deaths from diseases not previously associated with the habit, according to the New York _Times_. “The smoking epidemic is still ongoing, and there is a need to evaluate how smoking is hurting us as a society, to support clinicians and policy making in public health,” Brian D. Carter, head author of the study told the _Times_. The study found that smokers were twice as likely to die from kidney failure, fatal infections and possibly even breast and prostate cancers in addition to the 21 diseases already linked to smoking. Because it is unethical to direct people to start smoking for a study, the findings are observational and only prove a correlation, not causation. However, Carter has faith in the study because smoking is already known to create risk factors, such as a weakened immune system and artery disease, which contribute to the newly linked ailments. Finally, the facts that heavier smokers were at a higher risk and that ex-smokers saw the dangers decrease over time added to Carter’s confidence in the study. \[[New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/health/smokings-health-toll-worse-than-previously-thought-study-says.html?%5Fr=1 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/"},"headline":"Smoking May Be More Dangerous Than Previously Thought, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-02-12T11:33:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T04:21:42.545Z","description":"Kidney disease and fatal infections now linked to the nasty habit","url":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/","keywords":["Smoking","Cancer","U.S.","study","Research","health","New York Times","Infections","deaths"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19ac26252192ecb9/69877ef1e20a876743a85127/smoking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin McSpadden","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-mcspadden/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt19ac26252192ecb9/69877ef1e20a876743a85127/smoking.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"smoking tobacco, cigarette","caption":"A man smokes outside of a building on June 11, 2009 in New York.","creditText":"Spencer Platt—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/smoking/","name":"Smoking"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/","name":"Smoking May Be More Dangerous Than Previously Thought, Study Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Up in Smoke: The Rise and Fall of Big Tobacco","description":"\"More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette\" is just one of the phrases we don't hear anymore - here's a quick look at America's complicated relationship with the addictive habit.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WPuXPUG8/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-07-16T14:34:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WPuXPUG8.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/","duration":"PT1M37S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why Obama Quit Smoking","description":"The president says he's \"scared\" of Michelle","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/YUSLqVsx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-09-24T13:19:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YUSLqVsx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/","duration":"PT13S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3706679/smoking-cigarette-quit-smoking-anti-smoking-health/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```