The truth about smoking

[ackee911]

Did Donza not start a similar thread re excessive drinking?

You may not be him but you have similar tendancies

So because I ask for others advice on occasional smoking, and express an interest in changing my car, I have similar tendancies to someone else.

I suppose I'm like him too, because I breath something called oxygen?
HUGE difference between excessive drinking and occasional smoking.

 

[ackee911]

I don't want to start a row here but you must look at Greece and it's smoking habit.

First of all,they have the longest life-span of any country in Europe. This is down to Olive oil, diet, lemon juice, fish and plenty of sunshine. A trip to the graveyard reveals men and women living well into their late 80's and then on.

Secondly, the Greeks are the heaviest smokers in Europe. If you are in a bar, taverna or ouzeria they smoke when they drink, talk, watch the football and worse of all during their dinner. Many times we have been half way through a huge meze when a couple of the guys put their forks down and light up!! Only to cary on eating once their fag is finished. All this is while other people are still eating.

A trip to the bank will result in you discussing the weather, tourism and whatever, all followed by a quick smoke with the bank manager (we have them too).
On the bus under the no-smoking sign will be Spiros the driver lighting up.
On the till at the supermarket an ashtray is always hidden for the check-out girl to have a quick one.

It's the way they do it, but we have all seen the little old dears, dressed in black, with all their shopping walking up zillions of steps only to have a smoke on the way up...amazing!!!

The no-smoking in public places law comes here next year, will they stick to it?....who knows.

I can relate. My grandfather smokes on a regular basis, and works a farm. He must be in his 80s now, and still working the farm, smoking every day.
True, he doesn't smoke actual cigarettes-he smokes old-skool with actual tobacco rolled up (not sure exactly).

I just read up that:
In terms of health effects, cigarette smoking is quite different from eating candy or drinking coffee. People can consume candy and coffee in moderate amounts without hurting themselves. It's only when they go overboard and use these things to excess that they get into trouble. But there is no such thing as smoking "in moderation." Any amount of smoking is bad for you.
AND:
Another problem with smoking "just a little" is that most people can't do it for long. Cigarettes are physically addictive. If you become a smoker, your body will adapt to cigarettes so that you will come to need them -- and need them several times a day -- in order to feel normal. Because cigarettes are addictive, most people can't continue to be occasional smokers for long. Soon, they find themselves smoking every day, several times a day. And the more they smoke, the more they are damaging their health.

But how much of this has real scientific backing?

 

[gt-83]

he doesn't smoke actual cigarettes-he smokes old-skool with actual tobacco rolled up (not sure exactly).

real smokes then!

 

[CE230]

I smoke and have done for 45 years. At a recent physical my GP's he did a test on my life style and advised me if I gave up now I could add another 3 years to my life span. Whoopee!

 

[verytalldave]

Three years is three years.
Who knows what might happen in those 36 months.
You might miss the birth of a grandchild or great-grandchild.
Surely that MUST BE worth it.

 

[Gollom]

In the 30s and 40s, the crazy days when a Lucky Strike cleared the throats of Hollywood actresses

And Marlboro would make you more of a man!

Agree with Gina re the ban in pubs etc. And I am an ex-smoker too (some would say they are worse!)

 

[neilrr]

3 or 4 fags a week!!

While I don't condone that sort of language I'm wondering if that isn't recklessly promiscuous in today's world?

 

[Spinal]

Darrel, I must say, I can relate.

Italy was exactly like that until a few years ago... then the ban came into effect, and no-one thought it would stick...

Now, Italy is a MUCH better place, I can finally go around without gagging, your clothes don't stench every time you go out and I don't recoil whenever someone talks to me... Both my grandmother and mother used to smoke (my grandmother quite heavily too). After a pleuritis for my grandmother (and the ban for my mother) both stopped smoking, cold turkey... they haven't touched a cigarette since!

You would be surprised how many people (in Greece too) support the smoking ban, and how many of these will "appear" from the woodwork once the ban comes into force.

I went to the pub maybe once a year before the ban, and that was only when I was forced to. Now, I'm down there with my friends most friday nights. My lifestyle might be less healthy now, but I certainly socialise more!

M.

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

Darrel, I must say, I can relate.

Italy was exactly like that until a few years ago... then the ban came into effect, and no-one thought it would stick...

M.

Michele Italy actually before the ban was put in place had one of the lowest percentage of smokers in Europe (i believe was 17% and was right at the bottom of the league).

Greece on the other end has something like 43% of its adult population (there is another statistic that mentioned 57%) but I will go for the more conservative. Add to that a Balkan temper and rebeleous/mistrust attidute towards authorities it will be interesting.

 

[AndyS]

If Greece is anything like Portugal they will have totally got round the ban by installing the recommended air vent machines in their bars that they don't even plug in!

I heard something the other day, i think it was called the French Enigma or something, where they drink wine, eat foods with fattening sauces and smoke yet have the lowest incidents of related illness in Europe

(or something like that, the exact details escape me..)

 

[janner]

When my wife was in the respiratory ward recovering from her second lung operation I asked the doctor how many people in the ward smoked....answer ALL of them.
People were reassured in the 1970s that there was no evidence of a health risk from asbestos I'm sure there are lots of people who handled the stuff back then and didn't get affected. That doesn't mean it's good for you in small doses

 

[CE230]

Three years is three years.
Who knows what might happen in those 36 months.
You might miss the birth of a grandchild or great-grandchild.
Surely that MUST BE worth it.

I've never been bothered about being a grand parent that's SWMBO's job. I fail to see the joy in being an unpaid baby sitter and my brother has taken on the rolé of furthering the dynasty so that the family line won't die out but I'm not bothered about that either.

Quitting would help me healthwise but that would be negated by the additional medication taken if I did so.

 

[grober]

Your chances of contracting cancer from smoking the occasional cigarette are multifactorial so almost impossible to predict for a specific individual. Things that might contribute would be the brand of cigarettes, how much you inhale, a history of lung disease or infection, exposure to other carcinogens in the environment- e.g. chlorinated hydrocarbons, aromatics, particulates and biological dusts, the state of your immune system, diet and the degree you exercise. Principal to all these is your body's ability to repair damaged DNA at a cellular level. This is almost certainly a function of your genetic make up which may or may not predispose you to developing cancer when exposed to particular carcinogens. So far there is no definitive test for this so the only way to find out for sure is to carry on smoking and see if you develop cancer in later life?
So will smoking increase your chances of developing cancer-- statistical evidence would indicate - the answer is yes. This does not tell you whether you as an individual are more likely or not to develop it in comparison to the person sitting next to you doing exactly the same thing.

 

[Godot]

I smoked.

I continued to smoke, even after I saw the lungs of smokers being taken out of their bodies on the Post Mortem Table.

2 years ago, it was discovered that I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD for short) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COPD

I now know what it is like to be "puffed out"

I no longer smoke, with grateful thanks to the NHS via East Kent Area Health Authority, who funded me for 3 months using Patches & Nicotine Inhalator's & regular counselling.(counselling! not for me I thought..but I had a choice individual or group..I chose individual...brilliant)

I am now addicted to the Inhalators, but only 1 capsule a day & it is CLEAN Nicotine.

I now rely to breath,3 sorts of sprays that I need to inhale at various times of the day..one as & when required for shortness of breath, another twice a day (12 hourly doses) & another at 2 doses at Night (24 hourly)

My 45 years of smoking have also contributed to my peripheral neuropathy.

My first "breath test" at the local health centre indicated I had the lungs of an 87 year old, my last showed I had the lungs of a 79 year old. The cold & the heat both have an effect on my breathing

My 60th Birthday was in November

The next stage, estimated 18 months -3 years time,will be Emphysema
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emphysema
Treatment ? Oxygen from a bottle & a Stanna Lift or a bungalow.

I thought I was quite fit, I served 9 years in the Army & the remainder of my working life I was a Police Officer, retiring on a full pension (not ill health).

Then one day coming in from the Garden (1/3 of an acre) to enjoy an evening glass of Malt...I couldn't get my breath...so frightening.

If you smoke, your choice. My advice STOP !,despite the words of Kipling
"A woman is only a woman: but a good cigar is a smoke."

I still fight the inclination of following someone who is smoking, just to sniff "their exhaled smoke" much to the consternation of SWMBO!

 

[Nik_Endeavour]

I've never been bothered about being a grand parent that's SWMBO's job. I fail to see the joy in being an unpaid baby sitter and my brother has taken on the rolé of furthering the dynasty so that the family line won't die out but I'm not bothered about that either.

Quitting would help me healthwise but that would be negated by the additional medication taken if I did so.

Each to their own but I thought the biggest achievement a man could have in their life is to hold their grandchildren. I say so as my dad never had the chance and was his biggest regret before he died. a smoke reladed death (lung cancer).

 

[scumbag]

The next stage, estimated 18 months -3 years time,will be Emphysema
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emphysema
Treatment ? Oxygen from a bottle & a Stanna Lift or a bungalow.

!

and if you are lucky, a lung transplant about 1 years after you are bed ridden.

Friend of my parents smoked, had what you say is next, got bed ridden for around 18months and they changed his lungs.

6months after the operation I walked with him to the sumit of Coniston Old Man. He told me that day, he never thought he would see that sight again, and you should hear him go on about smoking.

He spent his smoking life, working and walking in the lakes, only now does he appreciate what has been done for him, as a result of his smoking damage.

This was about 7 or 8 years ago, and his grandson and grandaughter have been born, and have started growing up, and he has been able to part of their lives which makes him all the more happy.

Thats why I don't judge smokers.

smoke if you want. just don't expect to live a long and healthy life.

 

[The G.F.P]

i hate smoking

i hate people who smoke

i have in my 38 years never even tried one as i have never felt the urge to try and look cool or try and fit in

if i want to stink and kill my self ill do it for free by smearing dog poo on myself then driving off the cliffs of dover and save myself £2k a year

 

[CE230]

i hate smoking

if i want to stink and kill my self ill do it for free by smearing dog poo on myself then driving off the cliffs of dover and save myself £2k a year

But costing the tax payer 100's of thousands in rescue/recovery costs and maybe even more if you survive and are permanently hospitalised. At least the tax I pay on my cigarettes will make a significant contribution towards the costs.

 

[The G.F.P]

I smoked.

I continued to smoke, even after I saw the lungs of smokers being taken out of their bodies on the Post Mortem Table.

2 years ago, it was discovered that I have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD for short) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COPD

I now know what it is like to be "puffed out"

I no longer smoke, with grateful thanks to the NHS via East Kent Area Health Authority, who funded me for 3 months using Patches & Nicotine Inhalator's & regular counselling.(counselling! not for me I thought..but I had a choice individual or group..I chose individual...brilliant)

I am now addicted to the Inhalators, but only 1 capsule a day & it is CLEAN Nicotine.

I now rely to breath,3 sorts of sprays that I need to inhale at various times of the day..one as & when required for shortness of breath, another twice a day (12 hourly doses) & another at 2 doses at Night (24 hourly)

My 45 years of smoking have also contributed to my peripheral neuropathy.

My first "breath test" at the local health centre indicated I had the lungs of an 87 year old, my last showed I had the lungs of a 79 year old. The cold & the heat both have an effect on my breathing

My 60th Birthday was in November

The next stage, estimated 18 months -3 years time,will be Emphysema
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emphysema
Treatment ? Oxygen from a bottle & a Stanna Lift or a bungalow.

I thought I was quite fit, I served 9 years in the Army & the remainder of my working life I was a Police Officer, retiring on a full pension (not ill health).

Then one day coming in from the Garden (1/3 of an acre) to enjoy an evening glass of Malt...I couldn't get my breath...so frightening.

If you smoke, your choice. My advice STOP !,despite the words of Kipling
"A woman is only a woman: but a good cigar is a smoke."

I still fight the inclination of following someone who is smoking, just to sniff "their exhaled smoke" much to the consternation of SWMBO!

it must really hack you off when you realise its almost too late and the damage is done

hopefully your words will stop someone from smoking and you get something out of that

most smokers are just so arrogant and think they are the one who will not end up at deaths door

my mum is 65 this feb and is still giving it the old "ill stop when i get ill" she has had her "tickley cough" for 20 years now and is always ill and run down but refuses to do anything about it

i get annoyed and say to her that if she carrys on she will probably die from it and then how would she like me to tell her grand daughter that moogie is dead, being an arrogant smoker she says its her only pleasure in life

 

[The G.F.P]

But costing the tax payer 100's of thousands in rescue/recovery costs and maybe even more if you survive and are permanently hospitalised. At least the tax I pay on my cigarettes will make a significant contribution towards the costs.

ill pack the car with TNT

i would not ban smoking, infact id make it free

id make crack free & alcahol free

Trimming the herd