One in eight smokers will develop cancer...

[Dookus]

I just heard that on Larry King.

I like them odds!

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em!

[DebJ]

1. the other 7 die of pneumonia from smoking outside in February.

(puffing away)

[Dookus]

2. hehe

I've always maintained it's not the smoking that kills us - it's the constant nagging.

[miss_kitty]

52. When my mom died of meningitis

we had a wheeze over how wrong we were to nag her about the smoking! :D

[Radio_Lady]

23. Not funny at all -- 70 year old lady who smoked for 50 years --

You should have heard her recriminations at the swimming pool today. She wishes she had stopped, but that was in the era when "everybody smoked."

Now, she has to have constant oxygen -- delivered through a nose appliance -- from a small machine, day and night. Smoking has damaged her lungs and she can't breathe properly.

Yes, we will all die someday, but, hopefully, not from smoking-related causes.

Rationalization is a powerful motivator. But it can do you in, partner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peace.

[Momof1]

33. My Mom....

She started when she was in her teens. I've heard 14 or 15. When cigarettes were 10 cents a pack.

She smoked Lucky strikes non-filtered in the beginning. Then switched around.

A few yrs ago, the Doc's gave her inhalers.

Then in August 04, she was just...sick. Went to her Doctor, he gave her any x-ray and told her there was nothing wrong with her lungs, but she needed oxygen now.

She went home, used the O2 for 20 minutes, and took it off. And lit a cigarette. Two days later she was hospitalized. 5 days later she was dead. She was 74 and smoked for 60 yrs.

On the death certificate: Tobacco abuse

I still would love to strangle her Doc, that told her there was nothing wrong with her lungs...but then again, she was the one that smoked all those cigarettes.

[Radio_Lady]

47. Sorry for your loss. My parents both smoked for years, and I am a rabid -

anti-smoking advocate. I remember the crinkled tobacco down at the bottom of my mother's purse.

Dad died in 1988 of heart disease at 76. He was incapacitated for almost 11 years prior to that.

Mom died in 1991 of atherosclerosis at 71. She was not healthy for years prior to that.

I am their only child. I inhaled "side stream" smoke for more than twenty years that I lived with them. Now, I cannot stand the smell of tobacco and especially cigars, which give me a headache. I hope I last longer than they did.

The doctor on Larry King's show last night said that when the cancer gets to the stage where they can see it on an X-ray, it is already too late. After such a long time as a smoker, probably nothing could have saved your mother's (or my parents') life.

I understand this is a terrible addiction and feel very sad that Peter Jennings has this awful illness. He may not live long enough to enjoy his retirement after all.

Peace.........

[valis]

3. And eight in eight people will die at some point...

:D

[LynneSin]

4. And how many will die of Heart Attacks or Emphysthma??

Not worth it

Sincerely

A girl who's dad was one of those 8

:grr:

[valis]

5. Good question...

[xray s]

11. Johnny Carson, for one

[Skittles]

27. more people die from heart attacks from lack of exercise

than from smoking

[LynneSin]

39. The topic was smoking

In fact there are many causes of Heart Attacks which would include diet, exercize and overall health. But regardless, Heart Attacks can be caused by smoking and the original post made it seem that since only 1 out of 8 smokers get cancer, then everyone should go ahead and smoke.

I just wanted to point out the obvious - cancer is NOT the only condition caused by smoking and in reality, it's 1 in 3 chance that a smoker will develop some condition from their smoking.

In a nutshell - quit smoking now will better increase your chances for a longer, healthier life. But yes, you could replace "quit smoking" with a variety of other vices - however, we'll save those for the appropriate threads.

[Radio_Lady]

50. self deleted

[Nikia]

54. My grandmother tried to get my grandfather to quit smoking

He always said that he had nothing to worry about because there was no cancer in his family, that his genes would protect him.
His genes didn't protect him from the heart attacks that he suffered nor the aortic aneurysm which he died from.
They wouldn't have protected him from emphesema either if he had died like his friend who lived in his neighborhood.
Cancer isn't the only thing that you need to worry about as a smoker.

[KitchenWitch]

6. Used to smoke

given my health history, I will likely be one of the one in eight...The prospect is an unpleasant thought.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

7. I can live with that.

Or not.

No one here gets out alive....:smoke:

[Dookus]

8. George Burns

said "one day, all these health nuts are gonna feel stupid, lying in the hospital, dying of nothing."

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

12. If not for the cigars

George might have made it to 101.

"Mr. Burns, what does your doctor say about your smoking?"

"My doctor is dead!"

[LoZoccolo]

9. You forget there's heart disease as well.

When I was 27 I woke up with atrial fibrillation and ended up in the hospital. That's the kind of stuff that normally doesn't happen to people until they're old and stuff, and when you're heart goes crazy, it's fucked up and you can't do anything about it. Take care of yourself.

[Dookus]

16. my brother

a non-smoker, is having surgery tomorrow for atrial fibrillation. It's a cool new surgery that uses catheters into the heart to cauterize nerves that are causing the electrical problem.

I don't maintain that smoking is good. But I do think we're all gonna die of something.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

18. I like to smoke while driving a Hummer and giving birth

Or giving a hummer while perched on a berth...but that's for a different site.

Best wishes for your brother!

[BikeWriter]

10. I've watched people die of it.

You'll live much longer if you quit!

[fujiyama]

13. I'm glad I never got addicted

I only smoke when I'm drinking. It's one of those habbits ya form when hanging out with others.

Hell, I got wheezy smoking and walking at the same time... so I think I'll stick to just a few (maybe like 5 in the span of 3 hours) one night or so every week.

[xray s]

14. And on their way to a horrible death....

...they make a bunch of right-wing cigarette company CEOs rich.

I just can't understand why people let a bunch Madison Avenue ghouls and cigarette company goons convince them to get cancer, one puff at a time.

[Skittles]

34. you have no understanding of addiction

probably such ignorance is a GOOD thing though

[lumberingbear]

15. Don't you worry about Tucker and the other "kids"?

They are subject to secondhand smoke too!

[Panda1]

17. King's Show Is Killing Me.....

My dad, a doctor, died of emphysema on July 4th. He hadn't smoked in ten years. I did the Hospice end for him. It was agonizing to see such a brilliant and brave man choose his own exit. I fear emphysema almost more than lung cancer.
I used to smoke. I quit for 9 years. Chimpy was getting ready to invade Iraq. I took a bus trip overnight from So. CA to SF to participate in a protest march...the friend I went with smoked. In one stressed out brief moment I had a cigarette. Within a week I was buying them. It's the deep shameful secret I hide from most.
I try to quit and then I can't. I try again. I keep trying. One of these days....soon I hope....I'll be able to give them up and just go through the awful few weeks I know await me.

You smokers know my shame.
You nonsmokers don't ever start.

Like I said, this show is killing me. I'm literally crying over it and I HATE whore KING! The irony.

And of course, that makes me want to light one up.
Caffeine and nicotine. My two vices.

[UdoKier]

20. I highly recommend cigarrest.

I used it in 1992, and quit for 8 years. Had a relapse in 2000~2001, but I KNEW I could quit then, and I did. Been smoke-free since. Cigarrest is a good method of changing your psychology, of seeing yourself as a NONSMOKER. You may slip up and have one cigarette, but you are a NONSMOKER.


http://www.cigarrest.com/


It is the best way. Makes the "DT"'s bearable.

[Ladyhawk]

30. If you quit once, you can do it again. :) :) :) :)

This is supposed to be encouragement. Since I never smoked, I have no idea what you're going through, but I hope I can be encouraging anyway. BIG HUGS!!! You can do it. :D

[Panda1]

36. Thanks, Ladyhawk and UdoKier, I appreciate it.

Encouragement works a lot better than being yelled at. :)
I don't know one "happy-about-it" smoker.

Ultimately, it's all "an inside job" and we have to be ready mentally and emotionally to endure the withdrawal symptoms which are very real and not to be taken lightly...they vary in intensity along with a clinically proven depression accompanied by the physical trauma.
It's the worst and most insidious addiction. We who smoke know it's killing us....yet the addiction is so powerful we'll go out in the middle of the night to get more cigs.

Peter Jennings even said he had a "weak moment" and started up again in 2001 after 20 years without smoking. That broke my heart to hear him say those words...he's not weak at all. But our shame and the stigma are huge. Smokers are looked down upon as weak....nothing could be further from the truth. Funny how some "liberals" are so intolerant of smokers.
We don't do it around anyone...we skulk about like criminals and the lepers of society. We hide it from people. We don't want to inflict "second hand smoke" on the rest of you. We're ashamed.
:hide:
It's outlawed just about everywhere.
Most people I know don't even know I smoke.

Nicotine is a killer and it's making a comeback big time in teens. Just look around at teens and people in their twenties... a lot of them are smoking. Yet, pot is illegal....it makes NO sense.
Nicotine and alcohol are true killers but marijuana is illegal?? :wtf:

In the last year I've lost 4 family members to smoking related illnesses; my dad's death obviously being the most painful for me. An Internist who "knew better" and a man with incredible willpower; the most disciplined man I've ever known....yet he quit too late...ten years wasn't good enough. He still got emphysema.
Additionally, there's my aunt in Ireland, dying of cancer, undergoing chemo. and she never smoked a day in her life...nor did her husband who just died. Cancer is an equal opportunity disease.

I've read a lot about the effects of nicotine on the brains of both men and women...the effect differs by gender. The common thread, we "can't think" when we quit. My dad showed me a medical journal article, (JAMA), a study on the effects on the brains of women who smoke....it makes it so we can calm down as opposed to being more of a stimulant to the male brain. (I can dig it out if aspersions are cast upon this and a link is needed.)

We're the pariahs of society. I was never intolerant of smokers in the years I was a non-smoker because that's just so unfair. Would we "shun" a junkie or a person with any other addiction or disease? Isn't tolerance one of our traits?
The cigarette companies have a whole new market in the third world countries and I note that many of our troops are photographed smoking. They hook the young and then have fake "concerned" ads on the tube about the dangers of smoking, knowing damned well that once we're hooked it's REALLY hard to quit. If it was easy to quit there would be NO smokers.

I'll use all the standard substitutes, the gum, plastic straws, lots of water, exercise, yet I'll still go nuts. Been there, done that. I know what I'm in for. Those of you who have witnessed a loved one die from emphysema or lung cancer know. It's horrendous. Yet it STILL isn't a deterrent. It's insanity...as are all addictions. I can afford to gain weight so that's not an issue. But it IS an issue to some women I know and in particular to teenage girls who believe the hype about being thin.
I lost weight I didn't need to lose at all over the last two years and I also became a total insomniac when my father got VERY ill for his end stages. More hours awake to smoke....a vicious, vicious cycle.

Thanks for not being judgmental. Fluff knows, smokers feel enough guilt without that special brand of sanctimony displayed only by those "perfect" enough to have no flaws.

Again, I sure appreciate the words of encouragement from you and UdoKier. We smokers need all the help we can get...not scorn.


I'll never give up and I WILL get this monkey off my back.

[LynneSin]

45. Good Luck

BTW, most of us non-smokers start preaching only when smokers try to glamourize or use poor justification for why smoking isn't that bad.

Good luck - you can do this!

[thoughtanarchist]

63. new brand can help quitters

They're called "Quest" and are "nicotine free". (I put that in quotes because they contain only trace amounts)

When I was able to quit I had done it by dis-associating the habit with the dependancy... with herbal smokes at the time, but I bought a couple cartons of quest on line recently and I plan to be nicotine free in a month or so...

It gets much easier to quit altogether when there's no nic fits.

[UdoKier]

19. More than half get emphysema...

...how you like those odds?

How you like pushing your oxygen supply around on a little cart?

[Dookus]

21. Do you have a link for that?

I've known hundreds of lifelong smokers, and only a few with emphysema.

I'm not denying that smoking is the main cause of emphysema - I just question the statistic that over 50% of smokers get it.

[UdoKier]

22. I don't, but...

I recall reading that 80~90% of smokers (if they are not killed by cancer) who continue to smoke into their 70's will get emphysema. The prevalence is of course lower for people who quit earlier on. I looked but could not find stats...

I had three great aunts who were my grandma's sisters. My grandma was the only one who didn't smoke, and she was the only one who didn't get emphysema.

[imenja]

24. When they do it's horrible

a terribly painful death.

[Dookus]

25. Unlike

the peaceful, happy deaths you get from alzheimers or parkinsons or just advanced old age.

[imenja]

26. yes actually

having seen people in my family die of various illnesses, lung cancer was by far the worse. The pain my grandfather was in was unbearable, and he was a very stoic man, so to show pain at all meant it was excruciating.

Alzheimer's doesn't actually kill a person. They end up dying from pneumonia or some other disease. That's what happened to my aunt.

[Dookus]

28. my point is we're going to die from something

and many deaths are bad, some are easy.

Dropping dead from a heart attack is preferable to a long, lingering death in a nursing home. And there's no guarantee of getting one or the other, no matter what we do.

[imenja]

29. yes, a heart attack isn't a bad way to go

unless of course one ends up like Terri Schiavo.

[Dookus]

31. Yep

and that's why I have an advanced directive and have given power of attorney to somebody I trust.

If your point is only that many deaths are disagreeable, I'm not going to argue with you. But not smoking and eating well and getting regular exercise, while all good things to do, do not guarantee a quick painless death.

[imenja]

32. I have no particular point to make

Other than my grandfather's death from lung cancer was something I wouldn't wish on anyone.

[Dookus]

35. I understand that

I wouldn't wish a cancer death on anyone - yet many people die of cancer, whether they smoke or not.

Death is often very unpleasant.

[LynneSin]

40. Have you ever seen someone die of Lung Cancer?

and not some friend of a relative or stuff like that. Have you ever spent every evening, every weekend possible for 6 months straight heading to a hospital just to watch a very close, very dear relative die of lung cancer?

I have and it SUCKS LIKE HELL

So maybe your smoking is all cool & stuff and you like the odds that only 1 in 8 chance you'll get lung cancer (even though it's 1 in 3 you'll get some sort of smoker related debilitating disease when you add in all the other condtions out there).

Better yet, why not recommend Russian Roulette to everyone. I mean, it's a 1 in 6 chance you might get a bullet so I say cock the barrel and enjoy the fun of this addictive game.

Your post is sad - and it shows just what a pathetic addict you are!

Oh and on an edit note: I have many friends who smoke and I try to be respectful of their habits as long as they don't smoke in my face or in my home/car. But what really peeves me is your non-chalant attitude towards a horrible disease like somehow a "1 in 8" chance means we should somehow all take up that disgusting habit since maybe you'll get lucky and not have to go through the suffering like many others have. You should be ashamed of your attitude about all of this. It's one thing to smoke, but don't ever try and promote it as anything but the unhealthy, life threatening habit that it is! Hell, you don't see me in here telling people to scarf down Burger King Whoopers or other disgusting habits. You should consider the same!

[Dookus]

51. yes

my pointing out that non-smokers die, too, shows how pathetic I am.

:eyes:

[HughBeaumont]

55. Grandma died at 49 from lung cancer.

She didn't even recognize my father in the last 2 weeks. That's how bad she had gotten. I was 7 at the time. I hid in my room for a week. To this day, I've never put a smokeable product to my mouth. That terrible event was all the inspiration I needed.

Always LOVE the addicts defending their addiction. Especially the ones that brag about the "exceptions" . . . i.e. people who are 83, smoke two packs a day and drink a sixer every week . .. or they know people who smoke a pound of pot a month, or "casual" cocaine or ecstacy users who make high six figures a year, have great marriages, have cholesterol levels of 150, can run 4 minute miles and are essentially bulletproof (seriously, I've encountered MANY like this online and in reality). Like all of a sudden, they know tons more than researchers, scientists, doctors, ALA and such who have devoted decades of study to this subject and assert that it's "not really as bad as everyone makes it sound" or "you must believe everything you're told, right?"

I've encountered and have been friends with more drug addicts or those involved with drugs (one of the in-laws is doing time for dealing) than you could shake a stick at - never saw ONE positive example. Substance abuse is a losing battle. You WON'T beat the odds. You WON'T be that exception.

[trof]

59. Yes. M-I-L. At age 87. Never smoked.

Neither did husband or kids.
She was a homemeker all her life.
Wonder what percentage of non-smokers die of lung cancer?
I'll take the odds.

[ScreamingMeemie]

46. For what it's worth...not always. My aunt passed away this last December

from lung cancer, and no one even knew she was sick. I asked my doctor how that could be and he said it's possible. That one of the common misconceptions he said. Some people never even know. She suffered from bad sinus, and had told me a few days before that it was really acting up.

[imenja]

53. I tend to think that isn't common

A colleague of mine's mother recently died of lung cancer and apparently it was a very painful, difficult death.

[ScreamingMeemie]

57. It's very common.

4 of my relatives have died from lung cancer. :( Most of the pain comes from metastasized cancer. I think I'm going to go with my doctor on this one.

[imenja]

58. so most people die before the cancer metastasizes?

both of these people I'm referring to were quite old. My grandfather was in his 90s, and I think my colleague's mother was somewhere near there. The lousy thing is that this woman never even smoked. But her husband did. It was cancer caused by second hand smoke.

[ScreamingMeemie]

64. Second hand smoke is another issue all together. And until

they have a viable study I'm not buying it. There are so many other pollutants in our air that can cause cancer. I'm sorry to hear about your colleague's mother.

I am just repeating what my doctor told me and also what I was able to find on the internet. While the sensation is one of drowning, it is not necessarily painful. We did extensive research as to how my aunt could have had cancer in both of her lungs and die without ever knowing it.

[THUNDER HANDS]

37. I'm almost 5 months smoke-free

I like the fact that I have more money now than any potential health benefits.

Spending $40 a week for smokes is just dumb, such a waste of money.

[LynneSin]

38. CONGRATULATIONS HUN!!!

Did your girlfriend get you to quit??

[THUNDER HANDS]

41. yes, she can take credit for that

she also spurred me on to lose weight after I quit.

I quit smoking in November. By the Superbowl I had gained 35 pounds. Since then I've lost 27.

So I'm almost back to the weight I was at before I quit, plus I'm a lot healthier and will actually be able to go running or walking without being out of breath.

Not smoking anymore is cool and I don't miss it nearly as much as I thought I would.

[LynneSin]

42. I saw the price of cigerettes in NYC...

..that alone would get me to quit!

[THUNDER HANDS]

43. when I met up with you that first time

they were $8 a pack in Manhattan. I'm sure by next year they'll be $10 a pack.

Can you imagine paying $10 a pack for cigarettes?

Next they'll be coming in dime bags. :)

[LynneSin]

44. Already being done

I know in both Philly and Wilmington (and I'm sure in NYC), there are those local corner "Shop & Stops" that will sell you 1 or 2 cigerettes for like a quarter. It was mainly geared towards lower income and especially underage kids.

I know only cause they reported about it on the local news

[Radio_Lady]

48. Magic, congratulations! Well done! You've give yourself a great gift!

Keep up the good work!

[miss_kitty]

49. In my family-it's worse

I was a smoker. I got cancer. My Dad, his brother and sister all smokers, all cancer deaths.

And my dad and I had QUIT. I was done for three years when the cancer was found. My dad, 5 years.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

56. Smart smokers will heed this post and act accordingly....

This information could conceivably reduce that number to zero. How come the frigging government isn't telling the public about the myriad benefits of pycnogenol for many many afflictions?? They don't give a shit and they are owned by the pharmcos.

www.pycnogenol.com

1: Toxicol Ind Health. 2002 Jun;18(5):215-24. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Pycnogenol in cigarette filters scavenges free radicals and reduces mutagenicity and toxicity of tobacco smoke in vivo.

Zhang D, Tao Y, Gao J, Zhang C, Wan S, Chen Y, Huang X, Sun X, Duan S, Schonlau F, Rohdewald P, Zhao B.

Institute of Biophysics, Academia Sinica, 15 Datun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100101, PR China.

Despite large-scale anti-smoking campaigns throughout the world, the number of smokers remains high and cigarette smoking continues to represent a life-threatening health risk. Until a smoke-free society is achieved, reduction of cigarette smoke toxins may reduce the health burden. Current cigarette filter techniques are limited to the reduction of volatile tar constituents by dilution and by condensation on the filter surface. Vast quantities of harmful constituents, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, heterocyclic (aromatic) amines, free radicals and reactive oxygen species, are inefficiently retained in the filter. We investigated whether neutralisation of free radicals in cigarette filters is feasible and accompanied by a reduction in smoke toxicity. Addition of the bioflavonoid pine bark extract Pycnogenol to cigarette filters depleted free radicals in a dose dependent manner. This was paralleled by a reduction of toxicity and mutagenicity in rodent test models. In this model system, the acute toxicity of cigarette smoke was markedly reduced by up to 70% in rodents with 0.4 mg Pycnogenol in filters. Chronic exposure to cigarette smoke for 75 days revealed that Pycnogenol filters significantly reduced mutagenicity by up to 48% and decreased pathological changes in lung tissue.

PMID: 14653310

[bicentennial_baby]

60. Yeah, being smart, that's the ticket!

Naw, it's not just a raging physical and psychological addiction...You just gotta be smart and listen to the doctors... :eyes: If only it were that easy.

[Pithlet]

61. Choose your poison

Smoke. Eat whatever you want. Ride a bike without a helmet. It could all kill you eventually.

It's obvious that smoking kills. But, I don't see the point in nagging people who smoke about it. They know it's deadly, even if they deny it. Both my grandfathers died too young in an agonizing way because of their smoking. And no amount of nagging in the world would have changed things. :(

[trof]

62. Smoking kills. So does life.

Life is a terminal disease.
You can quote me.
;-)

[ScreamingMeemie]

65. Thank you Pithlet. I don't smoke anymore but I am a big smoking

advocate. We can all pollute the air with our obnoxious and foul cars...but whoa is the smoker. :hi:

[Aryel]

66. I now live in a communistic state

As of last Thursday, you can't smoke in any restaurant OR bar in Minneapolis (and some other surrounding suberbs.) Thankfully, I live in one of those just south enough of Mpls to be able to go to a bar and have a cigarette with my drink.:toast: