Heartbreaker? Smoking causing millions of heart attacks, strokes

While many people know tobacco can cause cancer, it also increases risk of heart attacks and strokes, the WHO said in a statement ahead of World No Tobacco Day. [Philippe Huguen, AFP]

While the link between smoking and a range of cancers is well known, the World Health Organization warned Thursday there was too little awareness of tobacco's impact on the human heart.

On the occasion of World No Tobacco Day Thursday, the UN health agency hailed that smoking had declined significantly since year 2000, but warned that there were still far too many people indulging in the dangerous habit.