Health Alert: Smoking Deaths Underestimated.

Smoking may be a bigger killer than currently estimated. The current estimate from the United States Surgeon General is that 480,000 Americans die yearly of smoking-related causes, but researchers from the American Cancer Society claim that the figure may be closer to 540,000 after including at least some deaths caused kidney failure, intestinal disease, heart disease caused by high blood pressure, infections, breathing problems, and breast and prostate cancer. Though these diseases are not typically associated with smoking, researchers found that smokers are more likely to die from these conditions than non-smokers. Thus, they believe these additional deaths should be included in smoking-related mortality calculations.

New England Journal of Medicine, February 2015