A new report by U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin says that exposure to tobacco smoke – no matter how small – causes immediate damage to your body that can lead to serious illness or death.

The report, How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease: The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease, finds that cellular damage and tissue inflammation from tobacco smoke are immediate, and that repeated exposure weakens the body’s ability to heal the damage.

The research also concludes, no surprise, that cigarettes are designed for addiction and that the design and contents of current tobacco products make them more attractive and addictive than ever before. Today’s cigarettes deliver nicotine more quickly and efficiently.

Tobacco smoke contains a deadly mixture of more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds. Every exposure could damage DNA. Exposure also decreases the benefits of chemotherapy and other cancer treatments.

Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can cause cardiovascular disease and could trigger acute cardiac events, such as heart attack. Smoking causes many other harmful effects making it harder for diabetics to control their blood sugar.ξ Smoking makes it harder for women to get pregnant and can cause a miscarriage, preterm delivery, low birth weight, as well as damage to fetal lungs and brain tissue.

Thank God I do not smoke but I am exposed to it all the time. My heart goes out to smokers, who I believe want to quit but don’t know how or have the support to do so. We must help them by giving them our support in whatever way possible.