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A Serious Issue - Cigar Smoking and Your Health

S

slider9499

New Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2005
Messages
236
Location
Long Island
We all know that cigarette smoking is considered the main source for lung cancer in the United States, even though people who never smoked get lung cancer. But forget the sometimes propaganda that is put out by the medical community as well as the media.

Let's seriously talk about cigar smoke and the process of drawing on a cigar that may or not contribute to [lung] cancer and/or any type of respatory problems - especially the long term effects.

There are many articles, on both sides of the issue, which can provide empirical "evidence" that "proves" that cigar smoking and second hand smoke is a contributing factor in the cause of lung and other health problems.

So let's try to cut through the BS and hype and look at the facts that we now have available. As the saying goes - Are there any doctors in the house?

1. Is there a difference in the intake of nicotine when it comes to cigar smoke versus cigarette smoke?

2. If so, what are those differences and how do they affect one's health?

3. When it comes to the actual drawing in, the physical aspect of drawing on a cigar - does this have an effect on one's overall heart health?

4. Does the type of tobacco/blend (Maduro, Cameroon, Connecticut, Corojo, etc.) make any difference?

5. What about the strength of the cigar? For example, is smoking a Macanudo better for you than smoking a Flor Chisel?

6. A cigarette has X amount of nicotine that is taken in when smoked, how many grams of nicotine is taken in via the average cigar? Rumors I've heard say that smoking one cigar is the equivalent to smoking seven cigarettes. Truth or more media BS?

I don't think we can solve the world's smoking issue but I think it deserves a forum and I cannot think of a better place to start then right here.

My objective is to begin an ongoing dialogue that can be added to and possibly even become a topic for an article in one of the cigar publications this year. Given the number of laws being passed I think it is a topic that needs serious discussion, debate and real answers - answers that are flushed out and have alight shone on them so we can possibly put this to bed once and for all.

I look forward to all of your replies, links and comments.
 
Also, it's not so much the nicotine that gives you cancer as the inhaling of burning organic material does. Let there be no doubt, the medical community isn't trying to put you off with propoganda as the media may be, they are trying to help you make a decision. Cigar smoking is bad for you and causes cancer, so does secondhand smoke. The secondhand smoke studies are accepted by the medical community, they are not bullshit, and the danger is very real. That said, I do a lot of unsafe things everyday (driving, jaywalking, heroin), and I think cigar smoking can be incorporated into a lifestyle that may not be 100% healthy, but healthy enough for me to live with.
 
Dr. Marc Schneiderman who joins us every year for our Post Turkey Day Crawl has written extensively on it. Find his latest here

http://www.cigargroup.com/faq/health/


PS Just for the record I am a cigar smoker and LOVE my sticks. So I am pro-cigar smoking. Actually I think anything that is legal should be just that legal - no exceptions i.e. no smoking in public places, bars, etc. I wrote this just to get as much information out there so that people who do smoke can have that information to make an informed decision as to whether they want to smoke, how much or quit.

Again, it is all about the individual making the decision NOT the Givernment telling the people what they can or cannot do with or to their bodies.
 
ThankYouForNotSmoking said:
The secondhand smoke studies are accepted by the medical community, they are not bullshit, and the danger is very real.
Click to expand...

10% Smoke 20% Mirrors 30% Bullshit and 40% Fact = 99.99% of all the secondhand smoke studies findings out there. If it was as bad as they are trying to make it out to be, the human race would have died out in the early 1900s.
 
I realize that I am in the minority among smokers, but there is no reason for this community to adopt an anti-expert, anti-intelligensia attitude towards these studies. There is no vast Cancer-Industrial complex looking to take us down. Cigar smoking is bad for you, second hand smoke is bad for you. They just are. There are a lot of anti-smoking nutjob groups out there, but the American Medical Association is not one of them.

The large majority of us on this board are not educated enough to read, digest and understand medical journals (I know I'm not). We have experts in fields to advise us in terms we can understand and unequivocally the medical community tells us that cigar smoking is bad for you and so is second hand smoke. I'm not arguing that you should always accept what whoever, whenever tells you, but avoiding the other extreme, rejecting bodies of information just because it conflicts with a lifestyle decision is as important.

I guess I should add that the way I rationalize my cigar smoking is a game of percentages. The rate of cancers that occur in cigar smokers is already so low among the non-smoking population I can't imagine that doubling my percentile chance to like .05% or even a whoppin' 1% is putting me in grave danger, but it STILL is dangerous nonetheless.
 
bmd34202 said:
BlindedByScience said:
ThankYouForNotSmoking said:
The secondhand smoke studies are accepted by the medical community, they are not bullshit, and the danger is very real.
Click to expand...
....... :whistling:
Click to expand...

Bloodletting was accepted at one point in the medical communities past too.

I'm just saying....

:laugh:
Click to expand...
I'm not a medical doctor, epidemiologist, or statistician by trade. Having said that, it's my belief that there is enough credible information out there to cast serious doubt on the issue of the negative effects of second hand smoke. There are so many variables, so many factors that would have to be taken into account that it's going to be very hard to show direct causality. Several of the major studies have been debunked by very credible sources. Google is your friend..... :cool:

Look, no one is going to make the case that any kind of smoking is "good" for you. From what I know and understand, however, I think the big risk factors involved with cigarettes are simply not at play with cigar smoking. Is there elevated risk? Sure....but not of the same magnitude that there is with inhaling cigarettes.

And, I will still smoke on my deck as I choose, smoke ban advocates be damned. Period. Probably drink whisky, too......

Who's side are you guys on, anyway....??

Regards - B.B.S.
 
BlindedByScience said:
bmd34202 said:
BlindedByScience said:
ThankYouForNotSmoking said:
The secondhand smoke studies are accepted by the medical community, they are not bullshit, and the danger is very real.
Click to expand...
....... :whistling:
Click to expand...

Bloodletting was accepted at one point in the medical communities past too.

I'm just saying....

:laugh:
Click to expand...
I'm not a medical doctor, epidemiologist, or statistician by trade. Having said that, it's my belief that there is enough credible information out there to cast serious doubt on the issue of the negative effects of second hand smoke. There are so many variables, so many factors that would have to be taken into account that it's going to be very hard to show direct causality. Several of the major studies have been debunked by very credible sources. Google is your friend..... :cool:

Look, no one is going to make the case that any kind of smoking is "good" for you. From what I know and understand, however, I think the big risk factors involved with cigarettes are simply not at play with cigar smoking. Is there elevated risk? Sure....but not of the same magnitude that there is with inhaling cigarettes.

And, I will still smoke on my deck as I choose, smoke ban advocates be damned. Period. Probably drink whisky, too......

Who's side are you guys on, anyway....??

Regards - B.B.S.
Click to expand...

Amen brother! Of course I have no doubt that cigar smoking can have adverse health affects, however I am happy to take that risk as enjoying a cigar is a therapy I need. For one it helped me quit chewing which would have killed me long before cigars ever will, and the stress relief it provides is not only a positive factor for me but for my family as well. Once I started smoking a cigar every evening after work my wife made the comment that I had started handling stressful issues much better.

Besides, if I chose to give up something that can potentially kill me, I would choose fried foods not beautifully rolled puros.. :cool:
 
You also have to take into account that most of the studies done focus on cigarette smoking and second hand smoke.

There is much more in a cigarette than tobacco. All those nice additives that increase the absorption of nicotine into the body are not really good for you. These chemicals are released into the smoke that floats all around.

Cigars are different. No additives, no chemicals, nothing to increase nicotine absorption. Just plain tobacco.

I would like to see more studies that focus strictly on cigar smoking. As it is right now, all the attention is on cigarettes.
 
My biggest bitch would be the attribution of tobacco in cause of death issues. There seems to be a trend to classify the cause of death in former or current smokers as tobacco related. The person was four hundred pounds, ate fried food three times a day, drank a case of beer every two days and their heart attack was caused by smoking. Yeah right!
 
cabaiguan juan said:
Cigar smoking is like therapy but more expensive :whistling:
Click to expand...

You think so...really??

To me there are many kinds of therapy, cigars, dancing, motorcycles (I've shown my bike to people and many times said, "meet my therapist"). Sometimes I find great comfort in just staring at a camp fire.

I think all these things do me more good than a therapist could, but that is just me (no offense to any Psych's out there).

Back to the point of health issues, I'm a casual smoker. If I am able to smoke 3 times a week, that's a good week for me, especially in the winter months. It's a rarity that I ever smoke 2 in a day. So for me, any health concerns, I believe, are more than offset by the relaxing effects it has on me. Stress is a huge health factor. Reduction of stress in one's life, I think, is just as important as exercising and eating right.

Someone mentioned already, the issues of nicotine and second hand smoke. Nicotine is real and can be problematic, second hand smoke I'm not too sure about. I think it is more an irritant to people than a true threat. That's not to say that there is not a health issue with second hand smoke, I'm just saying the topic is blown way out of proportion. What I have not seen mention of is the fact that cigarette smokers inhale smoke into their lungs where cigar smokers typically do not. I think this one factor is huge. I believe the overall health risks to cigarette smokers is significantly higher than that in cigar smokers, mostly because of this one fact.

So at the end of the day (literally and figuratively), I'm willing to accept the risk of smoking a cigar over something like skydiving. :)
 
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