Posted on 10/17/2006 1:09:34 PM PDT by trumandogz
TUESDAY, Oct. 17 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds that at least 1 in every 4 smokers will develop progressive and incurable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a much higher risk than previously believed.
COPD is a respiratory disease that results in blocked air flow to the lungs and grows progressively worse.
For this study, published online in the journal Thorax, researchers at Hvidovre Hospital analyzed data on 8,000 men and women, ages 30 to 60. All were monitored for 25 years as part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study.
At the start of the study, all the participants' lungs were healthy and working normally. However, over the course of the 25 years, the lungs of almost all the male non-smokers continued to function normally, compared to 60 percent of men who continued to smoke.
Among women, 90 percent of non-smokers still had healthy lungs at the end of 25 years, compared to 70 percent of smokers.
Overall, 25 percent of the participants developed moderate or severe COPD over the 25 years. Persistent smokers were six times more likely to develop COPD than non-smokers.
During the 25 years, there were 2,900 deaths in the study group. Of those deaths, 109 were directly attributable to COPD, and nearly all those deaths were in people who were active smokers at the start of the study. Only two non-smokers died of COPD.
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.
Hell...I don't know what to add.
There is a guy in my office who has COPD. he looks like death warmed over... 45 years... prolly a 5th every nite plus a pack and a half of reds....6 foot..130..hacking all day between cigarretes...the next bad cold could kill him.
Then my Dad...81...pack a day ...a nice stiff vodka every nite...healthy as a horse God Bless him.
I'm 46 and quit cigs last year cuz it was just my time.
I''ll stick with a nice glass of red or two when I get home from a hard day.
That's done to show the primary targets, not the secondary ones, like yourself.
...but...okay...we've absorbed a lot of their tax.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT! Could it be??? Could it be ah say??? An attempted sense of humor?
Damn dude, you're killing me, with your smug, selfrighteous digs!!! GeT DOWN an 'jiggy wid it.
Dr. P---- is still alive and still consulting.
I'll see if I can't get him to sign on and give you the lecture.
Just who is "we"?
According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, a white male child born in 1850 had a life expectancy of 38.3 years. Yes... healthy!
I am still trying to figure that out.
Sorry to belabor, elk..but here's my question:
Say you make a widget. Do you pass on the cost of the cigarette in that widget price? I can see that with gasoline (to transport the widget)...but I'm not quite getting the cig analogy.
If I choose not to buy caviar...I am not spending my discretionary dollars on caviar...and I am not paying the caviar tax.
If I buy bread...that is more essential...so I AM paying for the gas tax, etc., that is incurred in getting it to me.
Sorry if I am pushing this out...but I do want to understand.
The non-smoker...you said that tax is passed on.
Taxes are a cost of doing business (unfortunately).
Businesses do not pay taxes, they pass them on to their customers to pay.
Labor is also a cost of doing business, that is also passed on.
The cost of labor seeks its own ground. If the labor force is not satisfied with its compensation, it moves on.
People doing the labor factor all the things they want or need into their compensation demands.
If the price of something they want or need goes up, they demand more compensation.
25% of the labor force uses tobacco products.
Taxes on that is figured into their wage demand, and is passed on to the consumer (you).
Thanks! I'll remember that when smokers say they pay all of it.
I never said tobacco smoke "cures" asthma.
In my sister's case, it stopped the onset.
As with many things, interrupting the onset mitigates a full-blown problem.
The evidence is anecdotal - less smoking, more childhood asthma.
Draw your own conclusions.
Remember to apply it to the fatties and the people who drive too fast or run with scissors.
I have drawn my own conclusions, your sister did not have asthma.
So...NY has $5/pack tax on cigs. $5/gal tax, anyone?
38.3 years gloriously free of busybody nanny-staters (and federal income tax).
I would trade for that in a minute.
My husband and his brother both died from lung cancer. They were both long time heavy smokers.
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