CDC: Guidelines from Previous Smokers – Buerger’s Ailment Advertisement



Smoking leads to Buerger’s illness, which can direct to amputations. In this Television ad, Brandon and Marie communicate about residing with the consequences of Buerger’s illness as portion of CDC’s “Guidelines From Previous Smokers” campaign.

Responses on this movie are allowed in accordance with our remark coverage: http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Instruments/CommentPolicy.html

This movie can also be viewed at http://streaming.cdc.gov/vod.php?id=3fc89d4085cda1fddf35c8a83048979420120313112453143

To learn additional about tobacco management and avoidance, go to BeTobaccoFree.gov

26 comments on “CDC: Guidelines from Previous Smokers – Buerger’s Ailment Advertisement

  1. Lori Burnham

    It is caused by smoking! I have Buergers Disease, and it is a horrendous, rare disease caused gy smoking! The point is that smoking will get you- emphysema, copd heart attacks, cancer, strokes, and this, Buergers Disease, for which there is no known cure. Stop thinking it wont happen to me, it will as you get older. Listen, we all know the facts and statistics, and if you continue to smoke, then your ignorance will surely kill you one day. And, just think of all the money youre spending to die. Stop smoking now, one day for sure, you will kick yourself for not doing it while there ws still tim!

  2. Lori B

    I never heard of Buerger's Disease either, until I got diagnosed with it last year! It is a horrible, rare disease which causes excrutiating pain which destroys you mentally as well as physically. Even taking morphine doesn't help with the pain and distress of seeing your toe turn black with gangrene. I had to have two toes amputated. But,I am lucky, I stopped smoking immediately, and hopefully am in remission now. I have had no further progression of the disease and despite being disfigured, am now healthy. I will never, never smoke again. Smoking will always get you, somehow. Either by COPD, Emphysema, cancer, stroke, Arteriosclerosis or Buerger's Disease. Just last year I lost my husband of forty years to smoking (he just couldnt quit). He went to work one day, and the police came to my work that afternoon to tell me he had died! Having this disease caused me to lose my job of 15 years and to go into a horrible depression. It has truly changed my life. I urge everyone who smokes…..quit!!!! Before it is too late……..

  3. ObnoxiousAgnostic

    Amputee in Army commercial: I'm proud of what I've done. I served my country and learned a lot. You should totally join.

    Amputee in smoking commercial: Look at what smoking did to me! You don't want to end up like this!

  4. Victoria Jemson

    and to think they could have just quit smoking and after the first sign… but no…. lets blame it on cigarettes, not oursleves. like i could blame morbid obesity on food.

  5. Emily Hull

    I have met people who lost limbs, fingers etc. from smoking. By your logic, since I've never met anyone who died of AIDS, that disease must not exist. I've never seen the genitals of a person with genital herpes either, so that must not exist either. Therefore I must conclude that lung cancer, emphysema, Buerger's disease are all real since I've seen them, but AIDS and Gential Herpes are urban legends. 

  6. michael diaz

    I saw a guy with three fingers on one hand and two on the other losing toes you dont lose a whole limb but piece by piece caused by clots in your capillaries this disease is what got me to quit after 10 years

  7. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

    The adverse health effects from cigarette smoking account for more than 440,000 deaths, each year. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general. Compared with nonsmokers, smoking increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, COPD, cancers throughout the entire body, adverse reproductive and early childhood effects, as well as numerous other health conditions. 

  8. Debbie Dixon

    The pain is so intense that you scream night after night for it to stop! Of course it does stop eventually…by then the rotting of your skin immediately begins.. and the pain is different now. If you touch that finger now, the skin just smears off! At this point…there is no medical option for your finger other than amputation! Its gone! If you still believe that you can continue to smoke … then you lose the next limb and the next..and so forth.

  9. Debbie Dixon

    ..One day, you find a small black spot has appeared on your skin. It hurts and the cold weather amplifies that pain… and so it begins. The process one's body goes thru with Buergers Disease is so incredibly painful. If it begins in your finger …that little black spot quickly turns your entire finger black as the blood vessels swell and doesnt allow the blood flow to that finger anymore : ( Imagine for a moment what that would feel like…

  10. Debbie Dixon

    It will take and take until either you quit smoking or the Buergers WINS! Buergers Disease is directly caused by tobacco use! You are a complete idiot if you think otherwise…. As stated in one of the previous comments below… The destruction of one's blood vessel in the limbs appear to be an autoimmune reaction triggered by tobacco products. Genectics appear to be another contributing factor…but here is where it gets you… One does not know if you have that gene until … one day..

  11. Debbie Dixon

    I seriously worry about some of the people who commented here on this site?? Buergers Disease is so very REAL!!! And YES!!!! If you SMOKE you could very well be one of those that ends up as a Buergers Disease victim! If you smoke….Buergers Disease will creep up on you one day without warning and start a process of rotting skin whether it be on your hands or your feet/legs..gangrene as it may be more familiar in terms with most of you. Dont be fooled that you can beat it…

  12. marlb0r015

    The only Real diseases you can get from smoking are COPD and Lung cancer (even tough lungcancer is doubted to be caused by smoking by some scientist) But lets be real. Smoking does make the blood circulate slower and theres less oxygen for the blood cells. But technicly you could blame all the diseases a smoker gets for his smoking habit. But lets be honest the only diseases that are directly a cause of smoking are so far COPD and Lung/troathcancer. Mostly Luncancer. True or not?!

  13. Breakinwords

    I dont understand why these commercials keep being aired. Every smoker knows the dangers of smokeing. Its not like they are going to wake up one day see this ad and say wow smoking is bad for you? ill quit now. Instead of scare tactics why not just make a commercial on giving tips to stop smoking.

  14. paulntraci99

    Do your really need numbers to be convinced. Just Google Buerger's Disease and you'll see some of the most respected universities in the world have done research on this horrible disease. All you have to do is smoke and get it. Nothing else. Take it from someone who knows first hand.

  15. robblesaurus

    stopping tobacco use is strongly correlated with stopping progression of the disease. the destruction of the blood vessels in the limbs appears to be an autoimmune reaction triggered by tobacco. genetics seems to be another contributing factor, but you wouldn't know if you had the genes until your limbs start rotting away. all in all, it's probably better to get a rare disease like buerger's than the vastly more common heart diseases, cancers, and COPD from smoking.

  16. Kokoro Chan

    "Thousands of people are afflicted with Buerger’s disease, and almost all of them used tobacco."

    Could you cite some actual numbers please? Also, any other factors with a positive correlation? Some speculation as to the reasons for the correlation from the scientific community? This is what I'm talking about. I asked several questions about clarification, and you threw a vague uncited statement out and then changed the subject slightly so as not to directly answer.

  17. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

    Thousands of people are afflicted with Buerger’s disease, and almost all of them used tobacco. The blood vessels of the hands and feet are especially affected in people who have Buerger’s disease. Although Buerger’s disease affects only about 10 adults per 100,000—mostly tobacco users aged 20 to 40—it’s a disease all tobacco users should be aware of. To learn more about Buerger’s Disease and how smoking and tobacco use are related to this condition visit: cdc.gov/tips/diseases.

  18. pye254

    This here is true so why do I see people pressuring others to smoke? Is it cool? no and this is why many innocent people become addicts because of other screwed up people.

  19. Kokoro Chan

    >for which smoking is a contributing factor
    This sort of jargon is where it becomes a little harder to take seriously. How much of a contributor? What are the other factors? How loose are the guidelines for considering a minor statistical correlation significant enough to call a 'contributing factor?' Honestly, smoking is bad for you, no one disputes that, but this stuff where you find the most extreme, bizarre, fringe cases that you can maybe kind of tie to smoking if you squint is silly.

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