CDC Looks At Recent Smoking Trend Data

For almost 20 years, Dr. Ludlow Creary has served as owner and medical director of Visiting Angels of Los Angeles, where he is responsible for overseeing the facility’s home care service operations. He also serves as the executive secretary of the Minority Health Foundation and is a member of the board of directors of the Congress of Racial Equality. As part of his work, Dr. Ludlow Creary keeps up with current health trends in the United States.

According to recent data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the number of adults in the country who report they are regular smokers is down by more than 5 percent over the period between 2005 and 2016. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there are still approximately 38 million Americans who say they smoke on a regular basis. 

The CDC Office on Smoking and Health director Corinne Graffunder, Dr.P.H., said that the numbers reflect the overall trend in recent years that shows more people are giving up cigarettes, or never picking them up in the first place, given that the links between the practice and developing diseases like lung cancer have been so thoroughly documented.