[Poll] Do you smoke tobacco? - Page 2

[Xantipius]

My explanation for "1-10 cigs" is simple:
such moderate smokers are moderate in everything and they live sticking to the happy medium.

[Agilemind]

smokers never catch Parkinson's and Altzheimer's diseases.

Again there is a lot of conflicting information, however I found this meta-analysis (study of studies) interesting as it shows the studies which find a protective effect of smoking tend to have some affiliation with tobacco companies where as those which find a damaging effect of smoking tend don't.

Also, smoking mothers have NOT children with Down's syndrome.

Having scanned the papers on the subject there is a lot of contradictory data on this point with much of the variation beind due to how confounding factors are controlled (aka mother's age & ethnicity). It seems the more you control properly the smaller the effect. So at best I would say smoking mothers are slightly less likely to have a Down's kid but it is likely due to spontaneous abortion of Down's fetuses. But OTOH smokers tend to have early, small babies (because smoking constricts blood vessels & reduces the oxygen level in the blood) which is associated with a whole range of medical conditions.

such moderate smokers are moderate in everything and they live sticking to the happy medium.

This is the definition of confounding factors! Unless you were to compare those smokers to other people who live moderately in all things but don't smoke you can't tell if moderate smoking had any benefit what so ever.

[Xantipius]

Agilemind,
of course, I have not any possibility to conduct my own scientific researches on this.
I just re-narrate, as a parrot, what I had read in (basically, Soviet) magazines.
And I have no my own opinion on such medical issues.

[GrimJack]

Medical statistics shows that those who smoke 1-10 cigs per day live longer than abs non-smokers

IIRC, this was one of the odd statistical findings of the original Surgeon Generals report back in the '70s just an anomoly.

One more interesting recent medical observation:
those who in their childhood were always half-hungry (due to poor, unlucky families etc)
they preserve the lucidity of mind till deep old age.
Opposite case with those who were growing without any stresses.

Sorry but I have to disagree with this completely and absolutely. Please check out epigenetics. Please do not think I am attacking you - I am not, it is just that the results of this study are so horrendous that when I first read it I almost went catatonic and I can't help but remember it. The effects of the starvation during The Dutch Hunger Winter, seem to have affected not only the children of the population pregnant at the time but the grandchildren - this result is almost Lamarckian. How could acquired characteristics be passed on to a third generation?

Epigenetic effects must be caused by some sort of physical change, some alterations in the vast array of molecules that make up the cells of every living organ­ism. That leads us to the other scientific way of viewing epigenetics—the molecular description. In this model, epigenetics can be defined as the set of chemical modifications surrounding and attaching to our genetic material that change the ways genes are switched on or off, but don’t alter the genes themselves.

I hope you take this as a gentle admonishment not an intellectual attack - I usually use nastier words when I attack but I have poor people skills

[Agilemind]

I think Xanipus was referring to caloric restriction which some well publicized studies showed dramatically increased lifespan and decreased aging in mice & monkeys (to the extent that some of the researchers themselves tried to do it themselves). But as with lots of 'discoveries' it has been very difficult to replicate when very healthy diets were used or different strains of animal: http://www.nature.com/news/calorie-restriction-falters-in-the-long-run-1.11297

[Xantipius]

GrimJack,
What "attack"? =)
Just an interesting and innocent exchange by opinions!

Agilemind,
I can't find this article (it was somewhere on www.cnews.ru)
and it refers to some American observations over several thousand people, during ~20 years.

[Xantipius]

Agilemind,
the very interesting article on your link (I even saved it on my PC).

[Dani]

http://www.daniweb.com/community-center/geeks-lounge/threads/450/my-daddy

[Agilemind]

Grimjack you might be interested in this article of other examples of epigenetics (including smoking) which I heard about on a radio show. But epigenetics is still in its infancy so lots more questions than answers right now I'm afraid.

[Xantipius]

Dani,
it's terrible to die being such young.
I can't imagine I'd die in May 2014, nearing to my 50. My older brother died at his 51 (from limfoleikemia).
He never never smoked and never drank and was a fan of physical activities, especially of the sport bicycling.

[TonyG_cyprus]

As a smoker for about 45 years of about 60gm a week of handroll, I'm finding it extremly difficult to give up, but I have to, doctors orders. I had a mild stroke about two months ago, no lasting damage thankfully, but it does make you aware of your mortality, unfortunately, when I, and many of a like age(59) were young, it was the cool thing to do, even encouraged in the services I believe, along with alcohol consumption (tots of rum etc.)

[Xantipius]

Tony,
for your records:
mixture of alcohol & caffeine (e.g., vodka in a cup of coffee), taken during 1-2 hours after the stroke,
can save from inevitable death 50-90%% suffering neurons.
Note: taken separately, neither alcohol nor caffeine has NOT such effect.
And this phenomenon is still waiting for its explanation.

[Ezzaral]

TonyG, as a former two-pack-a-day smoker for 23 years, I can definitely relate to the difficulty of quitting.

Alan Carr's "Easy Way To Quit Smoking" got me off of them and I haven't touched a cigarrette in four years. I certainly can't say it will help everyone, but it did work for me. I started smoking at 15 and put them down at 38. I'd smoked my entire adult life and really couldn't imagine not smoking, but it really wasn't too awful once I got it straight in my head. You've got to get past all of your own reasons to keep on smoking. No patch, pill, gum, or anything else will do that for you.

Good luck with it.

[Xantipius]

"To quit smoking is harder than to quit heroine"
It's a quote from Soviet "Chemistry & Life", which, in its turn,
cited (I don't remember exactly) American "Thorax" or "Lancet".

[Agilemind]

mixture of alcohol & caffeine (e.g., vodka in a cup of coffee), taken during 1-2 hours after the stroke,
can save from inevitable death 50-90%% suffering neurons.

Reference please! The only studies I've found in humans are safety/dosing trials (latest in 2009 combining it with cooling the patient down) so far no placebo controlled trials so don't know if it will work in humans or not, certainly too early to be recommending the public to do it on their own (particularly since caffeine affects the heart). Also rodent models show it is much less effective if the patient drinks alcohol regularly.

[Xantipius]

Reference please!

I heard it from radio (Russian service) "Liberty" (in their weekly program "Po sledam Esculapa").
They referred to some scientific article in some American medical magazine.

[TonyG_cyprus]

@ Ezzaral, I'm using one of these Click Here, its quite effective,
I'm down now to 20gm in 2-1/2 weeks, (about 3 a day) and quite happy on it, I have tried before and was always bad-tempered and snappy,(but then I didn't have either a pc or DW!)

[GrimJack]

Agilemind: RadioLab if my favorite!

Xantipius and agilemind: See, I still go catatonic and mis-read things - I now remember those studies about caloric reduction and longevity. Do you know what 'half-cocked' means? (on a revolver, half-cock is sort of a safety in that the trigger won't fire the pistol and the cylinder spins freely - sort of)

Just came back from the link to the article - thank you very good read.

[BigPaw]

The surgery for Lung Cancer is one of the worst surgical procedures you would never want to have to go through again. When they remove a section of your Lung, which won't be keyhole surgery, the steps to recovery is much, much more difficult than having to quit smoking.

I've never smoked, but needed the surgery. The wound looks like a shark bite, the pain is excruciating, and for days you are told you need to cough up lumps of what looks like congealed blood and lung tissue, and not only is it gross, it's agony. How will your lifestyle change if your Lung capacity is dramatically reduced? How will your family cope with being put in the position of seeing you "at death's door"?

When a person smokes, they really don't know what they are messing with, or bringing on the family that love them. (How can a smoker say they love their family and then deliberately bring them all that heartache?)

[Xantipius]

Do you know what 'half-cocked' means?

No =) I fear any weapons to the guts.
I shot from pistols, but never from revolvers.
I shot from AK-74 (5.45 mm). Ppl, I'd say: f*** that weapon.***
It jumps in your hands like a frog.

[vinnitro]

proud non-smoker

[deceptikon]

I shot from pistols, but never from revolvers.

My condolences. ;)

[IIM]

There are hundreds way to die instead of choking your lungs with smoke and poisonous gases.
Instead of smoking and choking,help Dani to complete her goal by donating the money here you spent daily on smoking death.

[<M/>]

Boy... that is a lot of money being donated lol. but hey, she would be saving lives.

[Xantipius]

PayPal banned Belarus from its service (for political reasons).

[bumsfeld]

I don't smoke, but you smokers please keep smoking so my Altria stock can pay the good dividend it does.

[Assembly Guy]

I have never smoked tobacco. Take whatever meaning from that you want to ;) If I did ever smoke tocbacco (which I never will) then I'd so smoke a pipe. I know' it's worse than cigarettes because there's no filter, but come one! It's so classy!
The worst drug I've ever taken is alcohol.

[Xantipius]

I began to smoke when I was 19.
I bought (abs accidentally) a pack of "Ronhill" for 80 kopeek (0.8 rubles), in Moscow.
I smoked it up for only one May' night. And I liked it, this drug, very much.

[PatMoe]

Quit 3 pack a day habit cold turkey 6 years ago.

Immediately gained 60 pounds.

One cigar a day smoker now.

Weight gain stopped.

[mattster]

Nope, never have and never will