Health Effects

[Maverick]

Just to stir the melting pot among members.

I want to guage peoples beliefs and opinions in the Cigar smoking health issue. Do we all think it will kill us? How many cigars do we feel safe to smoke in a week/month?

I know we all love cigars, but I have been thinking alot this week about the health issues, do any of the members have any feelings of guilt after smoking a cigar? I finished a cigar the other day, and first ad on TV was a smoking ad, made me kind of reflect on what they might actually be doing. I know we dont inhale (aka. Cigarettes) but still just wondering?

May be a touchy issue for people, but I would like to get the feeling of the group.

Ross...

[JMH]

I don't feel guilty about smoking, but I know it's bad for my health. Regardless of inhaling or not, your body is going to absorb nicotine and other chemicals that cause various health problems. It doesn't particularly bother me because there is so much other crap that I could be putting into my body that is a whole lot worse. Maybe my view will change as I get older and if I have a family or something. I also wonder about the future. With the worlds population ever increasing, what state is the environment going to be in 30 years time when I'm 48? I'm taking a guess that the world won't a very pretty place. See Robs thread about the quality of the air in China.

[El Presidente]

"Is it true that you smoke eight to ten cigars a day?"

"That's true."

"Is it true that you drink five martinis a day?"

"That's true."

"Is it true that you still surround yourself with beautiful young women?"

"That's true."

"What does your doctor say about all of this?"

"My doctor is dead."

George Burns (1896 - 1996)

Ross...the rule of everything in moderation applies. My greatest fear in life outside of something ill happening to my children...is dying of boredom

There is plenty of cigar medical literature which others can direct you to but the general consensus (and I stand to be corrected) is that moderate cigar enjoyment increases risks such as oral cancers and heart disease but not by a significant deal.

In my age group (35-45) I am seeing friends drop dead predominantly of stress related work. In every case these guys were fit and by in large intense in their occupational pursuits (Lawyers and executives in the main).

Slow down, smell the flowers and enjoy the occasional Habanos when you feel that the circumstances warrant such a great experience.

[Andrew]

hey mate. we dont smoke anywhere near enough cigars to worry about health issues. but as i always maintain, we have to die of something. id much rather it be later on from cigar smoking than being killed by a bus or some girls father! just as long as you are not pregnant.....

[skid11]

Good Topic Maverick............... I wrote a longer version but lost it when I previewed it....Doh! So here's a shortened version......

When I first started smoking cigars I read a few nasty articles on lung, throat and mouth cancer which still makes me cringe. But after delving a bit deeper I discovered that many of these reports are written by anti smoking groups that put out very biased shock horror stories. Actually very few papers have been written on the effects of cigar smoking alone.

Check out this link you may find it interesting

[link]www.cigargroup.com/faq/health/[/link]

Personally I believe that cigar smoking is no more dangerous than regular city living, breathing in all those carbon monoxide gases etc, Life is for living. One only has to look at the life and times of George Burns as quoted by El Prez, what a champion of a man he was.

"I don't smoke, I don't drink, I sleep a great deal. That is why I am in 100% form".

Field Marshal Montgomery

"I drink a great deal, I sleep little, and I smoke cigar after cigar. That is why I am in 200% form".

Sir Winston Churchill.

;-)

[Loki]

Health effects? Cigar Aficionado ran an article on this subject last august. http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Ar...22,1675,00.html

I smoke 5-10 cigars a week and at this point in time I have no reason to worry. It is possible that the cumulative effects will change that but hell I'll be old then.

[jay8354]

Maverick, Life is about enjoyment. As in all things in Life, moderation is the key.

Either way you look at it, Cigar is made from Tobacco and Smoking Tobacco is going to increase your chances of getting Oral, Throat cancers. That's the reality of things.

Cancers are nasty already but Throat cancer according to my Doctor Friends rate pretty high on the suffering table (due to nothing to stop the cancer from progressing to other areas of the body).

Now that I have said that, you have to decide on how you want to live your life. Enjoy it while you can, without overt indulgences, and you should be fine.

As many people have already mentioned, you can never tell how you are going to go.

[Freefallguy]

Just a side-bar here, but of all things my dental hygienist was the one who pointed out I was a smoker, just by looking at my gums… she said she could see where they were blistered, but knew I wasn’t a [cigarette] smoker and couldn't figure out why.

I had to 'fess up on my Habanos habit.

Then of course I got the oral cancer lecture.

[smk819]

This is an NCI report on cigar smoking . You can check it out at http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/cigars

[Maverick]

Hey its good to see that this issue stirs a response from the members. I tend to Agree with our prez, anything in moderation is acceptable. I would hate to not smoke cigars my whole life to be struck by a car coming out of gym.

I personally beleive that we inhale more through second hand smoke while driving in our cars than we do while smoking cigars. I was sitting in traffic the other week next to this god awefully ugly Lexis 4X4 (Sorry if anyone owns one), and this woman had her cigarette out the window, the smoke went straight into the aircon of my car and at 7am in the morning it wasnt a very pleasent smell.

So I tend to agree with the moderation argument. And if anything support a ban on all cigarettes.

Good to see the response though, proves that we dont just stick our heads in the sand.

Ross...

[Ben]

» Just a side-bar here, but of all things my dental hygienist was the one who

» pointed out I was a smoker, just by looking at my gums… she said she could

» see where they were blistered, but knew I wasn’t a [cigarette] smoker and

» couldn't figure out why.

»

» I had to 'fess up on my Habanos habit.

»

» Then of course I got the oral cancer lecture.

Jesus Christ!

May I ask how many cigars a day you smoke? Also how long have you smoked?