Dying for a Fag - ?

[Mo1959]

My mum died the day before her 63rd birthday from lung cancer due to smoking presumably.

I worry about how much passive smoking I did at one time. She smoked in the house plus I worked in the prison service long before the smoking ban so visiting rooms and staff break rooms were constantly thick with smoke.

 

[Profpointy]

Last year I ended up in hospital with breathing difficulties, having had a number of such episodes over the previous months after a covid like illness (though tested negative). The others on the ward were all a good bit younger than me (I was then 61) but in a far worse state. I was the only non-smoker. After being treated for pneumonia I walked the mile and a half home after a few days which was pretty good going after my ambulance ride in, and being out of breath after walking 10 yards to the loo without an oxygen mask whilst ill.

I'm still not 100% and am now asthmatic, but I'd have been a very much worse state had I been a smoker and wonder if I'd have made it home at all

 

[raleighnut]

Last year I ended up in hospital with breathing difficulties, having had a number of such episodes over the previous months after a covid like illness (though tested negative). The others on the ward were all a good bit younger than me (I was then 61) but in a far worse state. I was the only non-smoker. After being treated for pneumonia I walked the mile and a half home after a few days which was pretty good going after my ambulance ride in, and being out of breath after walking 10 yards to the loo without an oxygen mask whilst ill.

I'm still not 100% and am now asthmatic, but I'd have been a very much worse state had I been a smoker and wonder if I'd have made it home at all

But how much of that is down to exhaust fumes, far more toxic than having a fag IMHO

Don't get me wrong, smoking is a choice but breathing in exhaust emissions is just dismissed

 

[figbat]

I have some pretty strongly held views on smokers. They are fundamentally selfish. Smoking benefits only them and significantly increases the chances that relatives and friends will have to deal with their illness and demise, not to mention the spectre of second hand smoking. It is literally easier not to smoke. I am aware of the highly addictive nature of nicotine but given the right mindset it can be overcome. Selfish people rarely have the right mindset though.

I have a relative who has had various smoking-related health issues, including cancer, has put their family through the wringer but carries on.

Some whataboutists point to drinking and say well if that’s OK then so is smoking. There is no safe or moderate level of smoking. There are no health benefits.

 

[Regular.Cyclist]

Was at the funeral of a work colleague last week. A lifelong smoker who died at 56. From the cancer diagnosis to their passing was only a few weeks.

 

[Profpointy]

But how much of that is down to exhaust fumes, far more toxic than having a fag IMHO

Don't get me wrong, smoking is a choice but breathing in exhaust emissions is just dismissed

I think the marked difference between me, a non smoker, and the smokers on the respiratory ward is likely down to their smoking rather than any difference between our respective intake of exhaust fumes

 

[Dogtrousers]

Some whataboutists point to drinking and say well if that’s OK then so is smoking. There is no safe or moderate level of smoking. There are no health benefits.

Sadly booze and fags often go hand in hand. Using one as an argument for/against the other will go nowhere. There's no safe dose or health benefits for alcohol (according to the WHO & NHS).

I don't know which was the ultimate source of my friend's cancer. Maybe a combination.

 

[ianrauk]

My older brother, who is a lifelong smoker, he's aged 59 near 60. He has incurable pancreatic cancer. We are not close and I hadn't seen him for over a dozen years until he called me out of the blue to tell me.
I went to see him for a chat and a pint.
During our chat he got up to say he was going outside for a fag.
I must have gave him a look as he said to me. 'It's all right, It's not lung cancer' and gave me a wink.
Fair play to him and I did laugh.

 

[november4]

They really should get on top of vaping, thats a generation now addicted and its probable to have a similar cancer correlation.

Glad my own kids show no interest, I was a smoker in my youth and wish I hadn't been but we all know it was pervasive in society then, changed days

 

[fossyant]

FIL died from lung cancer caused by smoking (there was some deniability at first in the family about the fact he had worked with asbestos a little, and I mean very little), but the 40 plus a day didn't help. He got away with it till 79. He had COPD and suffered on oxygen the last two years on and off, but didn't stop him. MIL passively smoked as did all the four kids - wife has asthma and puts a lot down to her dad's smoking in the house. My mum smoked, but only did it at the back door.

Two of my BIL's have moved onto vapes.

 

[Dogtrousers]

They really should get on top of vaping, thats a generation now addicted and its probable to have a similar cancer correlation.

Glad my own kids show no interest, I was a smoker in my youth and wish I hadn't been but we all know it was pervasive in society then, changed days

The coming generation do seem to have a different set of vices. The booze-n-fags of my generation seems to be a thing of the past. Dope seems to be playing a bigger part. So there's plenty of latitude for those with a self-destructive tendency to damage themselves like my generation did. They just have a different menu.

I think the jury's out on the dangers of vaping at the moment - there are dangers and risks but I don't think there's any evidence of a cancer link. But who knows what will emerge in the long term?

 

[presta]

My non-smoking parents brought me up to be a non-smoker, but my mother took up smoking in her mid 40s on the advice of a workmate.

There's a thread on here with a calculator that estimates the health risk of smoking among numerous other things, it's all a load of nonsense apparently because it doesn't simultaneously calculate the benefits of exercise as well.

 

[welsh dragon]

I must admit that I started smoking when I was 12. I tried god knows how many times to give up and finally managed to do so 12 years ago. My older brother also gave up and my younger brother now vapes.

Both aunts died from lung cancer. They were heavy smokers. On the other hand my grandad was a chain smoker and lived to be 83 which was a good age in the very early 70's.

Both Mr WD's parents died from smoking related illness when they were in their 50's.

I also think some people are genetically pre disposed to cancers for some reason.

I too was surprised just how long the urge to smoke lasted. It would catch me out of the blue and I would have given anything for a cigarette 2 or even 3 years after I gave up.

Touch wood I have dodged the bullet where lung cancer is concerned.

 

[Dogtrousers]

I too was surprised just how long the urge to smoke lasted. It would catch me out of the blue and I would have given anything for a cigarette 2 or even 3 years after I gave up.

If you were to offer me miracle rolling tobacco that has no health risks but was in all other respects like tobacco I'd be on to it like a shot, and I haven't smoked cigs regularly for about 30 years. I still sometimes "smoke" pens and the like. Booze on the other hand, I wouldn't go back to even miracle safe booze.

 

[tyred]

Vaping made it possible for me to stop smoking. I had tried many times before that. I did vape regularly for maybe two years and then got bored and just stopped doing it. It was surprisingly easy to stop compared to my efforts at stopping the fags.

I felt considerably better when vaping compared to smoking and noticed no real difference when I stopped vaping. Of course it's better not to vape at all, but I am convinced it is a much less dangerous option than the fags.

My biggest gripe with vaping now is the use of disposable vapes that people seem to throw away. Cigarette buts littering the streets is bad enough but throwing away batteries is bound to leach dangerous chemicals into ground.

My cigarette addiction is completely cured. I have no interest in ever smoking again. Sometimes I can look at someone else sitting relaxing with a cigarette and think I used to enjoy that, but then I remember it is not a one off. They have to go on smoking, probably 20+ times a day. They can't function properly until they've coughed their way through their first smoke of the day. Every time they get on a bus or train, go to the pictures or theatre, visit the home of a non-smoker, they are just thinking about when they can next smoke. Life as a smoker is both shorter and more miserable and you pay a fortune for the privilege. Every day I feel grateful I no longer smoke.