Pipe smoking effects on health

[kieveryuu]

Kyle, Monbla. So true. Saw the doctor the other day, a necessary trip before my move, at the end of the interview portion, she felt, as she said, it necessary to remind me that smoking - even if not inhaling - could still cause health problems. She knew it was a weak statement given how well informed I was during the entire conversation. She was polite about it.

Thankfully I have not had to deal with to many people giving me crap about it. Occasionally I get a car honk or a thumbs up from someone driving by. It is also interesting when you have someone who thinks it is interesting that you smoke a pipe, but when they see you actually smoking a pipe they find themselves confused about their feeling. The confusion stems from knowing me as a smart and conscientious guy, 'knowing' that tobacco is bad, but liking the smell and 'classic' quality of the pipe.

 

[Buckshot]

As a physician friend of mine used to say "... living is dangerous to your health" :twisted:

...and dying can often be fatal.

 

[asmoke]

Fortunately, I can replace my above list's "Child" with just about anybody, and due to the mentality, it all works out in the end. 8)

I rarely encounter people so bold as to approach me with "anti" sentiments. It's far worse to have curious hipster college brats patronizing me with inane questions through mouthfuls of Pabst beer.

One guy sat right next to me while I was blissfully reading and piping at my former place of employment, a coffee joint in MidTown Reno, and just asked, "Seriously?" (in that television-made-popular way; snarky and condescending) and wrinkled his nose. I guess I was supposed to get up and move. Or something.

I peered over my glasses and glared at him for about five seconds. I return to my book and just said flatly, "Seriously," and nodded a little. He complained to my former boss. Said boss smokes cigars and just asks the guy why he didn't just sit in one of the ten other empty seats (upwind, too). The guy huffed off with his to-go cup and said he'd never be back.

*shrug* Boss said, "We don't need him." And high-fives me. 8)

I think this just made my evening

 

[Toad Hall]

I do understand the dangers of cigarette smoking, as I have seen these effects in friends/family members first hand. From everything that I have seen or read, there is very little evidence which points to serious health risks caused by moderate pipe smoking (as outlined in the above medical journal comments). With this in mind, I think that the cumulative effects of other chemicals, food additives, stress, etc. have a far more detrimental effect on my long term health than that which is caused by pipe smoking. Smoking pipe tobacco relaxes me, transporting me to "my place" in this world, even if it is for only ten brief minutes of my day. For me, the calming effect which pipe smoking provides is far more therapeutic for the treatment of stress than any prescribed medication can offer. I'm going to live life, enjoy my pipes, and thumb my nose at the world filled with "sheeple."

I remember seeing a cartoon recently which showed an old man hunched over at his doctor's office, looking tired and worn out. The doctor said something like, "You know all of those years of healthy living you had so that you could live longer? These are those years!"

I'm going to continue smoking pipes, even if it means that years down the road, I possibly miss out on a few extra years of lonely torment at the nursing home...

 

[Dutch]

A person can take dietary restrictions and such very seriously. If you read enough of this type stuff, you can take it further than most people would ever imagine.

http://www.everydiet.org/diet/anti-estrogenic-diet

Every time I hear someone rant about second hand smoke, my response goes something like this. Yeah, and I suppose while we are at it, we need to outlaw automobiles, since every time we get behind the wheel, we risk taking our own life, as well as the life of someone else. Once you suggest taking away something that the anti's enjoy, they don't want to hear any of that.

http://www-fars.nhtsa.dot.gov/Main/index.aspx

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Oh, there's folks trying to eventually outlaw automobiles, they know getting rid of rolling combustion engines is the first step, and like second-hand smoke, pointing to the tailpipe, or road deaths, or something. These people simply don't like cars, for whatever reason they've chosen.

Kind of like how I don't like cigarette smoke--it's that simple...I just don't like it. I'm not afraid of it. The difference is, I don't want to make cigarettes illegal and ban them. I don't need subversion and trickery to get my way, I just go somewhere else. Kind of like car-haters need a self-sustaining cabin in the woods, incidentally, most of them couldn't handle that. It's too far away from the (smoke-free) espresso places and boutique clothing shops.

Takes all kinds, eh?

8)

 

[MisterE]

I've heard very scary things about dihydrogen monoxide as well. Do you have any idea how many people are dying a year from it?! Yet no government bans it! :shock:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I've heard very scary things about dihydrogen monoxide as well. Do you have any idea how many people are dying a year from it?! Yet no government bans it! :shock:

It's also not commonly known it's the number-one "greenhouse gas." ale: Good heavens! :lol:

8)

 

[MisterE]

I've heard very scary things about dihydrogen monoxide as well. Do you have any idea how many people are dying a year from it?! Yet no government bans it! :shock:

It's also not commonly known it's the number-one "greenhouse gas." ale: Good heavens! :lol:

8)

I know Kyle, it's the quiet killer. :no:

 

[idbowman]

I've heard very scary things about dihydrogen monoxide as well. Do you have any idea how many people are dying a year from it?! Yet no government bans it! :shock:

It's also not commonly known it's the number-one "greenhouse gas." ale: Good heavens! :lol:

8)

Don't forget...it's also the primary component in all acid rain. Scary stuff. 8)

 

[Kyle Weiss]

I think it's in my pipes, too--no wonder the Germans are so obsessed with filter pipes. It all makes sense. :lol:

8)

 

[gkunkel]

... just thought I might add the following:

After 15 years of smoking 2 pipes per day - never directly inhaling and never cigarettes, I was diagnosed with early stage COPD. And while an ECG was being performed, a technician announced that I have smoker's lung!

Whether we intend to inhale or not, some smoke does in fact reach our lungs. Whether or not we develop health problems largely depends on how our bodies react to substances in the air.

If you're over 40 and have smoked or are smoking pipes, you owe it to yourself to have a spirometry test performed. It may reveal lung disease before you experience any symptoms. Although there is no cure for COPD, the earlier it is treated, the better the outcome.

... still is scary though.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Was your COPD diagnosed purely on the basis you smoked a pipe? I know a guy that worked in a sawmill for 20 years that got COPD. I know of another guy that lives on the east side of a dusty Nevada playa that has COPD. Neither of them smoke, and never have.

Smoke and other foreign objects enter our lungs every day. Pollen. Dust. Particles of man-made, natural and other pollutants. It's an individual basis on how our bodies react to them. Inhaling smoke purposefully probably isn't a good thing.

As I mentioned, I have asthma and allergies. They've both significantly improved, even reducing the amount of medications I take (steroids and liver-threatening substances), and my quality of life is now better. It goes against all logic. If I develop problems down the road, that means I had X-number of years to live well until then. That, and I already had problems--which are now diminished.

People are not like a mechanical object, while we're all very similar, our genes, chemistry and functions differ ever so slightly. We can't all live in hermetically-sealed environments just to live life. We all deteriorate eventually, some faster than others, some with an obvious "smoking gun" and others that bewilder the status quo. I am sorry to hear about your COPD--I can relate. As also was mentioned, living is the number-one cause of death. It's the quality of life that makes it matter--one person's solution is not the salvation of another.

8)

 

[gkunkel]

Was your COPD diagnosed purely on the basis you smoked a pipe? I know a guy that worked in a sawmill for 20 years that got COPD. I know of another guy that lives on the east side of a dusty Nevada playa that has COPD. Neither of them smoke, and never have.

Smoke and other foreign objects enter our lungs every day. Pollen. Dust. Particles of man-made, natural and other pollutants. It's an individual basis on how our bodies react to them. Inhaling smoke purposefully probably isn't a good thing.

As I mentioned, I have asthma and allergies. They've both significantly improved, even reducing the amount of medications I take (steroids and liver-threatening substances), and my quality of life is now better. It goes against all logic. If I develop problems down the road, that means I had X-number of years to live well until then. That, and I already had problems--which are now diminished.

People are not like a mechanical object, while we're all very similar, our genes, chemistry and functions differ ever so slightly. We can't all live in hermetically-sealed environments just to live life. We all deteriorate eventually, some faster than others, some with an obvious "smoking gun" and others that bewilder the status quo. I am sorry to hear about your COPD--I can relate. As also was mentioned, living is the number-one cause of death. It's the quality of life that makes it matter--one person's solution is not the salvation of another.

8)

The diagnosis was made on the basis of spirometry tests ... one of them was administered after a dosage of medication to open my airways. Indeed the COPD could have been triggered by something other than my pipe smoking. Regardless of the cause, it is a good idea to reduce when possible the foreign substances I inhale.

Death and deterioration are realities. That said, I have a wife and two kids. And I'd rather not endure death by suffocation ... at least any time soon. So, it's in my best interest to do what I can to slow down the process. To that end, I've reduced my pipe smoking and moved it outdoors to reduce the likelihood of inhaling ambient smoke. But I'll most likely stop altogether. ... not happy about it as pipe smoking has been a passion of mine. On the other hand, so is breathing. I've also started jogging over my lunch hour.

Trust me, I'm also looking at quality of life issues here too. I'd like to reduce the number of years I'll be struggling with breathing or attached to an oxygen tank.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

We all have to make choices and sacrifices, and they're not always pleasant. Good luck to your health, I hope you can come to a reasonable compromise. There's always those e-pipes as a last-ditch effort, but I have no idea how that would affect/not affect COPD.

8)

 

[gkunkel]

We all have to make choices and sacrifices, and they're not always pleasant. Good luck to your health, I hope you can come to a reasonable compromise. There's always those e-pipes as a last-ditch effort, but I have no idea how that would affect/not affect COPD.

8)

Thanks and good luck to you too.

 

[abdthi]

Either way its a escape from a few extra years, in a rest home.

 

[Sloppy Joe Hemingway]

I've heard very scary things about dihydrogen monoxide as well. Do you have any idea how many people are dying a year from it?! Yet no government bans it! :shock:

It's also not commonly known it's the number-one "greenhouse gas." ale: Good heavens! :lol:

8)

Don't forget...it's also the primary component in all acid rain. Scary stuff. 8)

Stuff is nasty. Breathe it in, you'll choke, even die. It rusts metal, slowly disolves rocks... crazy!

 

[Dave_In_Philly]

Facts regarding Dihydrogen Monoxide - DHMO:

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

 

[Greyson]

Facts regarding Dihydrogen Monoxide - DHMO:

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

:shock:

Ah thats ok Dave, I didnt need to sleep tonight anyhow