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Cigar Smoking Dilemma
As i am sure you all well know that smoking tobacco is not good for you, we still smoke anyway.
I still smoke as well, but i have been looking at various medical org. sites (NIH, Mayo clinic, etc. ) and i am becoming increasingly convinced that i should stop smoking. The statistics are scary, and also realistic. I dont want to have part of my jaw removed because of some type of oral cancer, let alone die!
So what do you guys do?
Will you quit some day?
Are you aware of the risk?
DONT YOU WISH SMOKING WAS GOOD FOR YOU?! HAHA
Perhaps moderation is key here. Let me know what you guys think.
I still smoke as well, but i have been looking at various medical org. sites (NIH, Mayo clinic, etc. ) and i am becoming increasingly convinced that i should stop smoking. The statistics are scary, and also realistic. I dont want to have part of my jaw removed because of some type of oral cancer, let alone die!
So what do you guys do?
Will you quit some day?
Are you aware of the risk?
DONT YOU WISH SMOKING WAS GOOD FOR YOU?! HAHA
Perhaps moderation is key here. Let me know what you guys think.
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Comments
I will not say smoking is good for you, but it is not as bad as you may suspect (for occasional cigar smokers who dont inhale ). Dont read summaries, find the original source study
Kinda kidding, but for me it's just a choice between enjoying today or worrying about something that MIGHT happen. I've had several people close to me die from various cancers; some folks take that and go to the healthy extreme avoiding anything that MIGHT harm them. Me? I took it as a lesson in enjoying life because we're pretty fragile and promised nothing but the present. Even if we do every healthy thing in the book we may die young; conversely I've known folks that have done every drug under the sun and lived into their 80's. Bottom line? *** happens. Or doesn't. But you only get one go around on this little ball of dirt of ours, do you want to live it in fear of the things that can kill you or enjoy the little things on the ride?
Moderation not enough for you? Ben Franklin improved on Ari with this axim: "Do everything in moderation, including moderation." The eminent printer was said to have followed this philosophy most of his life.
Those of us who have reached the age of wisdom don't need to worry. The older you get, the less you have at stake. If at twenty you take up a vice which in twenty five years will make you schidt sideways, then at forty five you will be in deep doodoo. If you are sixty five when you take up that same vice, then at ninety... Depends.
But in all seriousness:
Many years ago, National Geographic sent a team round to study three notable communities which abound in centenarians: Hunza, Abkhasia, and Vicalbamba. Diet, religion, life style, ethnicity, all varied widely. The most notable variation, in my mind, was that both the Hunza and Abkhasians thought long life a blessing, which you would expect. The Vicalbambans in Peru thought it a curse. The Nat Geo guys thought this an effect of Catholicism. But there were many items which all three places shared in common. All are mountainous and poor. So between hiking to the outhouse and fetching water everyone got a strenuous daily workout. None have much access to even rudimentary medical attention. All three peoples marry early and stay married until death; then promptly marry again. Illiteracy is preferred. Some had left for military service, but returned to forget the outside world, and would point to their brother or cousin who did not return to oblivion and so died early after a mere 85 years. Universally avoided news.
All three peoples smoked like chimbleys.
So when I decided to try cigar smoking, I really thought about whether I wanted to take this risk, and I've rationalized it by smoking no more than two cigars a week, with generally several days between them. Other kinds of cancer run in my family, so my feeling is I'm going to get one of them anyway, so if my limited smoking creates the lowest odds of getting lung cancer I'll do it.
However, if I did see some very convincing medical studies from researchers showing a significant increase in certain kinds of cancers due to moderate cigar smoking I'd stop right away.
i also remember a study that discussed life span of 4 groups: Cigarette smokers, Cigar smokers, Pipe smokers, Non-smokers.
they found that Cigarette smokers live the shortest. they were expecting pipe and cigar smokers to be next but they werent. Non-smokers were next in length of life. the pipe smokers lived the longest and cigar smokers followed.
one of the speculated explanations is that cigars and pipes require you to sit down and relax like very few things do. relaxation is much better than stress. everyone knows that stress isnt good.
Q. Are cigars less hazardous than cigarettes?
A. Because all tobacco products are harmful and cause cancer, the use of these products is strongly discouraged. There is no safe level of tobacco use. People who use any type of tobacco product should be encouraged to quit. For help with quitting, see the National Cancer Institute (NCI) fact sheet Where To Get Help When You Decide To Quit Smoking at.............blah blah blah............
Everybody knows that the answer is yes. But since they've got a zero tolerance policy in place on tobacco they AVOID ANSWERING THEIR OWN QUESTION!!!!
Dumbest thing I've seen the guv'ment do all day! But then again I haven't been looking either.
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
I do know that now that I force myself to relax with a good cigar for an hour and a half at a time, my blood pressure has dropped 20 points!
But essentially it's this:
tobacco use is a risk factor for cancer
alcohol use is a risk factor for cancer
when combined, on a "regular" basis, the risk factors went up significantly, in some studies much more than significantly.
Wish I could find the article, but there were a few researches who had a theory (which I agree with) that when drinking (particularly hard alcohol), there are temporary changes in the oral mucosa (a "thinning", for lack of a better explanation) that allows for more carcinogens, etc. to be absorbed when swilling smoke around in your mouth, throat, etc.)
It made sense to me.
mexican coke is made with real cane sugar. therefore it tastes way better.