The final word on "Cigars are good for me"

[shilala]

This is a bit sciencey and wordy, so I'll summarize first.
They finally figured out what's wrong with me, almost. It's real close, and is one of 20 or 30 rare muscular related genetic missense mutations that are all much the same, with small differences. It's been narrowed down to 3, pretty much. We just have to mess around a bit to figure out exactly which it is, then test for it specifically. (That's just eight tubes of blood for more genetic testing.)
Nicotine plays a large part in fixing it. It's probably why I've been chewing snuff and tobacco since I was 8.

Here's the cool stuff...
My problem is that little channels that carry electrical signals to the muscles don't work right. They don't open and close correctly.
Then the wrong substances come from the cells, in the wrong amounts. Certain amounts of potassium or sodium should enter that channel, and those two things are what regulates the electrical current. I have a mutation that causes those two things to be all goofy.
The cool part is that those channels are called Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors. The reason they are called that is because ingested nicotine will make them run like they should.
As my problems have progressed, I've naturally amped my nicotine intake to 2 cans of snuff a day, smoking lots of cigars, and now I've added sniffing snuff.
Odd part is, I've done it all mindlessly. I also slow way down on my intake when I feel good.

What it boils down to is that if I had not been using tobacco wildly for the last 35 years, I'd be in a heck of a lot worse shape than I am now.
Amazing, right?
Plus I'm a mutant. Fear me.