Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States. If you smoke cigarettes (or cigars), you have a higher risk of illness and death from heart attack, stroke and other diseases. These include lung, mouth and throat cancers; chronic lung diseases and infections; heart failure; and peripheral vascular disease (in the legs and arms). Constant exposure to other people's tobacco smoke increases your risk, even if you don't smoke.

The good news is that when you stop smoking, your risk of heart disease and stroke can be cut in half just one year later and continues to decline until it's as low as a nonsmoker's risk.