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Health Advise for a New Cigar Smoker

FractalFractal Posts: 11
in General Discussion
I'm new to the world of cigars, and I'm loving it!

I only smoke once or twice a week, and most of the research I've done says that the increased cancer/health risks are unmeasurable.  I believe it... 90% of the way.  I'd love to make the remaining 10%.

What do you all know/believe about the health risks for a non-frequent (or less-frequent) smoker such as myself.

I brought this up because it was on my mind yesterday.  While smoking an Ashton VSG, the buzzing and tingling sensation my mouth felt made me feel just that unsure.

Comments

  • Renaissance_ManRenaissance_Man Posts: 973 ✭✭
    First... That buzzing, tingling sensation might have been just the "pepper or spice" you feel of the cigar... And second - there ARE always small risks... You might be the lucky in a million guy to get throat cancer or mouth cancer very easy. In any case the risks ARE small, but honestly - I have accepted them. I have never really met a cigar smoker (even heavy ones) that has serious problems... You can convince yourself that there are no risks, but that is simply not true. A fact is though that there is risk with EVERYTHING you really do and/or put in your mouth. There was also an article about how milk produces something in the body that fuels cancer cells... So all those years spent to promote milk we just f*cked ourselves? Got milk? The risks are minimal and are comparable to a lot of other "everyday" risks u r exposed to. You are better off smoking cigars like you do than being in a highly polluted city for example :)... I hope this helps. Cheers!!
  • KriegKrieg Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
    you might also want to do a search for this topic, it's been talked about alot on here.

    "Long ashes my friends."

  • undulacundulac Posts: 1,129 ✭
    I don't want to be 95 dying of nothing one day.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    heck....
    cigars are good for you.

    ive seen studies where cigar smokers live, on average, longer than non smokers.


    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • LasabarLasabar Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭
    undulac:
    I don't want to be 95 dying of nothing one day.
    Let's see.... I cannot smoke and eat nuthing but what a rabbit would eat and I'll live till I'm 100 years old...

    I can picture myself now walking around with a diaper on, a full load in my pants from all the oats and barley, I can't see very well so my face hurts from running into things, I have no friends anymore for they all died... and here I am walking around saying...
    "I coulda had a Gurkha!!!"
  • LasabarLasabar Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭
    kuzi16:
    heck....
    cigars are good for you.

    ive seen studies where cigar smokers live, on average, longer than non smokers.


    Is there a same study with scotch and women???
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    Lasabar:
    kuzi16:
    heck....
    cigars are good for you.

    ive seen studies where cigar smokers live, on average, longer than non smokers.


    Is there a same study with scotch and women???
    scotch, yes
    women, no
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • TheedgeTheedge Posts: 316 ✭
    I've decided to limit it to 2-3 per week - I do notice I certainly enjoy them more, something to look forward to.  Also, at that rate they might as well be really good cigars.  The end result will be the same, no appointment will be needed...
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    Theedge:
    I've decided to limit it to 2-3 per week - I do notice I certainly enjoy them more,
    this is also a good way to not burn out your palate. I very rarely will smoke more than one in a day. most of the time i wont smoke more than one in a two day period. i just find that i taste them better.
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • clearlysuspectclearlysuspect Posts: 2,124 ✭✭✭✭
    Regarding health issues, I decided to do some research into the National Cancer Institutes "Cigars: Health Effects and Trends." They almost had me convinced to stop smoking cigars as I read the first 8-10 pages. They threw out all these statistics and medical issues that cigars cause and frankly, it was just about enough to deter me. But, the avid reader that I am, I decided to finish reading the text. About three quarters through this thing, they finally reveal the scope of their study which was as follows: 150 middle age to elderly men who smoked no more than 5 CIGARS A DAY!. Later, they would equate 5 cigars to one pack of cigarettes. I obviously concluded that this study had no relevance whatsoever in regards to my monthly cigar intake. Some of these fellas they were studying were consuming 20-30 times the amount of cigars I enjoy in a month. But based on that info, I decided to have no more than 2-3 in a week. Originally, I tried cigars as an alternate to cigarettes. Since then, I've fallen in love with my new hobby, the culture surrounding it, and my ever-expanding collection of fine smokes. So, if 8-12 cigars equals about 2 packs of cigarettes in a month, then I feel a lot better about that than the 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes I'd smoke in a day! In summary, are there health risks? Yes! Are they as serious as the National Cancer Institute would like you to believe? Not even close!
  • Renaissance_ManRenaissance_Man Posts: 973 ✭✭
    clearlysuspect:
    Regarding health issues, I decided to do some research into the National Cancer Institutes "Cigars: Health Effects and Trends." They almost had me convinced to stop smoking cigars as I read the first 8-10 pages. They threw out all these statistics and medical issues that cigars cause and frankly, it was just about enough to deter me. But, the avid reader that I am, I decided to finish reading the text. About three quarters through this thing, they finally reveal the scope of their study which was as follows: 150 middle age to elderly men who smoked no more than 5 CIGARS A DAY!. Later, they would equate 5 cigars to one pack of cigarettes. I obviously concluded that this study had no relevance whatsoever in regards to my monthly cigar intake. Some of these fellas they were studying were consuming 20-30 times the amount of cigars I enjoy in a month. But based on that info, I decided to have no more than 2-3 in a week. Originally, I tried cigars as an alternate to cigarettes. Since then, I've fallen in love with my new hobby, the culture surrounding it, and my ever-expanding collection of fine smokes. So, if 8-12 cigars equals about 2 packs of cigarettes in a month, then I feel a lot better about that than the 1 1/2 packs of cigarettes I'd smoke in a day! In summary, are there health risks? Yes! Are they as serious as the National Cancer Institute would like you to believe? Not even close!
    Yeah... I have read several studies from them. They are all flawed. But in general - it is hard to have any objective study on this matter. 2-3 a week is a very good solution. Its all about controlling yourself and not shocking ur body. If you are going to increase that amount also do it gradually... You can "train" your body to be able to smoke 20 cigars a day and still live 100 years... It IS possible. Quite hard but very possible... Go to Tibet ;)
  • Renaissance_ManRenaissance_Man Posts: 973 ✭✭
    Renaissance_Man:
    Go to Tibet ;)
    or look at Churchill! :) He smoked like a chimney and died at 90 even though he was constantly under stress and pressure. Blah - everything can be enjoyed if you know how to "control" your body and do not go against it in unreasonable degrees...
  • gmill880gmill880 Posts: 5,947 ✭
    I'll weigh in on this as someone who had a recent health scare. May 30th I had a heart attack. I heard all the don't smoke anymore cigars from all the heart and heart related doctors. I read the same study about the men and the tests and the 5 a day cigars. The one I read completely also said at the end the test results were over like a 25 year period!of middle aged and older guys. Not a tremendous differece in health issues but maybe more suceptible to certain cancers. My family physician ...who I trust or he wouldn't be my family physician...when I asked him he said qoute " well anyone who tells you there is definite irrefutable proof that cigars will harm you is just straight up not telling you the truth , do they have a effect on you , probably , just like everything else you eat drink consume smoke or whatever. There is no absolute proof it will shorten your life just like theres no absolute proof it will extend it either " . I've read a ton since may 30 and have decided to take my chances ...I work in a college town and think I'm more likely to be run over and killed by someones spastic 19 year old kid thats enjoying his car, friends and first time outta sight of momma and daddy. They drive like hell on the roads and sidewalks ...I'm just sayin ...
  • ironhorseironhorse Posts: 469 ✭
    I can't imagine smoking 25-50 dollars of cigars a day. That's 200-350 dollars a week or 10,000 to 18,000 dollars a year. Were these guys they tested CEO's or something? Or did the study pay for the cigars? And if so, where do I sign up?
  • andrewhandrewh Posts: 97
    Medical studies are the reason why I always read small print!
  • clearlysuspectclearlysuspect Posts: 2,124 ✭✭✭✭
    ironhorse:
    I can't imagine smoking 25-50 dollars of cigars a day. That's 200-350 dollars a week or 10,000 to 18,000 dollars a year. Were these guys they tested CEO's or something? Or did the study pay for the cigars? And if so, where do I sign up?
    Maybe they were smoking Chocolate Phillies!
  • jlmartajlmarta Posts: 7,881 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Whenever anyone mentions the hazards of smoking - whether it be cigars or cigarettes - the first thing that comes to mind is the risk of cancer. Just as deadly, though, (or maybe even more so) is the risk of heart disease.

    I once read a study by the Oxford Journal of Medicine regarding the incidence of heart disease in cigar-smoking males. They had statistics grouped in categories such as men who smoked 1 to 2 cigars per day, 3 to 4 per day, 5 to 6 per day, etc. Then they compared the rate of heart disease in men in these categories to men who had never smoked at all. (This is a really shortened version of what I read so cut me a little slack on the fine points, ok?)

    It turns out that a guy who smokes 1 to 2 per day has only a 1.2% greater risk of heart disease than the guy who never smoked. And since I try to stick to a cigar every other day or so, obviously my risk is much less than that. I sometimes exceed 1 every other day but only for a few days.

    Marty

  • KamelyonKamelyon Posts: 109
    clearlysuspect:
    Later, they would equate 5 cigars to one pack of cigarettes. I obviously concluded that this study had no relevance whatsoever in regards to my monthly cigar intake. Not even close!
    I have a couple of questions about the research. 1) What kind of quality were the cigars? Were they Chocolate Phillies? or were they Ashtons, or some other quality made cigar? There is a big difference in the tobbacco used for each. Tobbacco used in the "7-11" crap, as I call it, is short filler that's processed and rolled by machines. 2) Did the test subjects inhale said cigars? I imagine that inhaling would asorb quite a bit more nicotine than retrohaling. I think there are alot more variables that are not considered between smoking cigarettes and enjoying a well crafted cigar.
  • bibbybibby Posts: 152
    Here's a study that shows that smoking cigars only has a slight difference to your risks of cancer:

    http://www.cigarcyclopedia.com/webapp/images/stories/cigarprimer/primer2health 90207.pdf

    Just something to browse, it's only a few pages.

    Rob
  • clearlysuspectclearlysuspect Posts: 2,124 ✭✭✭✭
    Kamelyon:
    clearlysuspect:
    Later, they would equate 5 cigars to one pack of cigarettes. I obviously concluded that this study had no relevance whatsoever in regards to my monthly cigar intake. Not even close!
    I have a couple of questions about the research. 1) What kind of quality were the cigars? Were they Chocolate Phillies? or were they Ashtons, or some other quality made cigar? There is a big difference in the tobbacco used for each. Tobbacco used in the "7-11" crap, as I call it, is short filler that's processed and rolled by machines. 2) Did the test subjects inhale said cigars? I imagine that inhaling would asorb quite a bit more nicotine than retrohaling. I think there are alot more variables that are not considered between smoking cigarettes and enjoying a well crafted cigar.
    They never really touched on inhaling vs not inhaling in depth and did not provide it as part of their experimental scope. They did not that even with not inhaling that carcinogens were transferred to the lips and tongue, transferred to the saliva and delivered to the mouth, throat, and asophygus (forgive me if I'm killing any of these words grammatically). And no, they did not specify which cigars they were smoking.
  • FractalFractal Posts: 11
    Well I do feel a lot better reading all of your responses.  Thanks guys!
  • GoldyGoldy Posts: 1,638 ✭✭
    I looked up the 1998 report from the national cancer institute and found some good information. The table I will be writing about is found in chapter 4 page 112 and speaks to the mortality rate of individuals who smoke cigars and only cigars. It is broken down to a matrix of age by number of cigars per day. Ok, here is goes,

    __________________35-49______50-64____65-80_____80+
    1-2 per day___________.72________1.10_____1.02______ .97

    The 3-4 and 5+ have much higher rates for the 35-49 age group but decline in a linear trend with increasing age.

    The mortality rate for someone is 1 since everyone dies. Since a person smoking 1-2 per day has a rate of less than one it is suggesting that cigars "probably" will not be the reason for death. This makes sense since younger people tend to die from things like car crashes and the like more often than older people. If you survive that age group then the effects of cigars start to link to things like heart disease (which people may have had anyway) and probably get tallied with the age group that most commonly has heart trouble. the 65-80 group shows a decline to almost normal rates and the 80+ group shows negative correlation because something else will probably kill those people.

    Overall, the mortalitly rate for someone smoking 1-2 cigars per day is 1.02. My advice is that if disease runs in your family then I would cut back just because there is a lot of life to live after your 50's. Personally, I enjoy about 1 cigar per week in the year, a little more in the summer and a lot less in the winter. I have no reservtions regarding health effects at that level.

    Hope that helps.
  • T. GervaisT. Gervais Posts: 239
    I believe that we as a society are babied and protected far too much. What does the government care if I die of cancer? There are too many dang people on this planet anyway. I am not stupid and I know that there are certain risks from smoking tobacco products, just as there are risks when doing just about everything else we do, but I don't really care. And if I don't care, then neither should the national institute for blahblahblah.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    T. Gervais:
    I believe that we as a society are babied and protected far too much. What does the government care if I die of cancer?
    because with government run health care you are a burden on the system
    T. Gervais:
    There are too many dang people on this planet anyway.
    agreed, we should eliminate a few countries.... (im kidding)
    T. Gervais:
    I am not stupid and I know that there are certain risks from smoking tobacco products, just as there are risks when doing just about everything else we do, but I don't really care. And if I don't care, then neither should the national institute for blahblahblah.
    amen to that!
    live and let live
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
  • rdnstnrdnstn Posts: 993 ✭✭
    As a healthcare professional, I feel obligated to advise you all that smoking can indeed be hazardous to your health and can leader to all sorts of cancers, high blood pressure and countless other things.

    So in good faith and for concern about everyone's health, you all can send me your cigars and I will properly dispose of them for you.
  • LasabarLasabar Posts: 4,472 ✭✭✭
    rdnstn:
    As a healthcare professional, I feel obligated to advise you all that smoking can indeed be hazardous to your health and can leader to all sorts of cancers, high blood pressure and countless other things.

    So in good faith and for concern about everyone's health, you all can send me your cigars and I will properly dispose of them for you.
    Well also as a healthcare professional you know that the proper disposal of waste is a BIG preventer of diseases and health problems

    Lemme poop on my cigars and THEN send them!
  • j0z3rj0z3r Posts: 9,403 ✭✭
    kuzi16:
    T. Gervais:
    I am not stupid and I know that there are certain risks from smoking tobacco products, just as there are risks when doing just about everything else we do, but I don't really care. And if I don't care, then neither should the national institute for blahblahblah.
    amen to that!
    live and let live
    Or, in this case, "Live and let die". HA!

    For some serious input on this.... I always revert back to a (for me) common sense approach: If I'm going to die anyway, and that's pretty likely because I'm not a candidate for cryogenic freezing like Walt Disney, then I may as well enjoy my relatively short time here on Earth. Life is too short to spend thinking about what we can't do, why not focus on what we are able to do and make the most out of it? Or to quote The Who: "I hope I die before I get old", probably used out of context, but I like it.
  • FourtotheflushFourtotheflush Posts: 2,555 ✭
    rdnstn:
    As a healthcare professional, I feel obligated to advise you all that smoking can indeed be hazardous to your health and can leader to all sorts of cancers, high blood pressure and countless other things.

    So in good faith and for concern about everyone's health, you all can send me your cigars and I will properly dispose of them for you.
    My swishers and phillies are on the way - just pm me your addy.
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