Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, which is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day. The overall mortality among both male and female smokers in the United States is about three times higher than that among similar people who never smoked. As many as one-third of heavy smokers age 35 will die before age 85 of diseases caused by their smoking. Two-thirds of smokers will die early from cigarette-triggered illness. The WHO estimates that more than 8 million people die prematurely yearly from tobacco use. More than 7 million of those deaths result from direct tobacco use, while about 1.3 million are non-smokers who are dying because they are exposed to second-hand smoke. Therefore, it is clear that smoking is a major cause of preventable death, and quitting smoking can significantly reduce the risk of dying from smoking-related diseases.