if smoking is so bad... how come it isn't 3/4 or 4/5 or 9/10 for that matter that get it???I am by no means a smoking advocate and hate it, frankly, but I gotta call misleading phrases when I see them. Look at this from the article:
"The study also found a sharp decline in the risk of COPD among people who stopped smoking soon after the start of the study. Over the 25 years, none of these ex-smokers developed severe COPD."
The key word is "severe", towards the end. So some of them DID develope "non-severe" COPD?
I want to know what percentage of the smokers develeped SEVERE COPD, vs non-severe, which doesn't seem to be worth mentioning in the "ex-smokers".
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a terminal disease. There is no cure. Lung tissue is destroyed which causes the gas exchange that takes place in the lungs to become impaired causing oxygen shortages to major organs such as the heart and brain.
The sufferer, over a period of years, will become disabled. Physical things that they could do before the last lung infection are now impossible. Everyday activities like bathing, dressing, using the toilet become impossible without supplemental oxygen and assistance from a caregiver. Lung infections and hospitalizations become routine. Many people who have COPD develop lung cancer.
Many have undergone Lung Volume Reduction surgery where the dead parts of the lung are cut away to make room in the chest for the lungs to move.
Lung transplantation has a survival rate of ~5 years.
In the end stages of the disease the sufferer is tethered to an oxygen tank and in most cases, a wheel chair. Death is usually from suffocation, although one can hope that a heart attack will take one sooner. It takes a long time to die from COPD.
The medicines used to treat the symptoms have severe side effects.
COPD is caused by smoking. It is a horrific disease and sadly, it is preventable. If you smoke, get your lungs checked. You may be in the "at risk" stage and still able to prevent years of suffering.
More information may be found at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/meetings/workshops/copd_clinical.htm
if smoking is so bad... how come it isn't 3/4 or 4/5 or 9/10 for that matter that get it???This doesn't take a genius to figure out........
OK, so explain to me why it's one in four?
I have entertained, for a long time, that cancer and other problems created by things like smoking need to be looked at in the same way allergies are. Does that offer anyone an idea about treatment?
Hello? Is anyone in the scientific community actually thinking about anything but the next grant?
Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
I support the ABSOLUTE RIGHT of people to smoke. It is a freedom thing.
That said, I recently quit smoking after 30 years. It took a drug called Wellbutrin (also known as Zyban) but it worked. This drug is available by prescription only and there are risks. But it worked. After dozens of tries and nothing else working, it worked.
If you want to quit, check this out with your doctor. It works by alleviating the withdrawal symptoms and the craving for tobacco.
It will NOT work if you don't want to quit smoking. I have talked to people who took the drug and did not quit.
BTW. I am one of the four who get a smoking related disorder. I have a very mild case of COPD. Hopefully it will not get worse, but at least I am not wasting money on cigarettes anymore. I feel pretty good about that.
She contended that it was the impurities in commercial tobacco that killed you, not the tobacco itself, so she usually smoked some sort of special "organic" "health food" tobacco. What a waste of a fine woman.
My husband and his brother both died from lung cancer. They were both long time heavy smokers.
Yes but three in four won't. Let's look at the bright side of life please.
Close to four in four smokers will die free and happy.