Cigar health issues...do you guys ever worry about it???

[cjhalbrooks]

We all could be doing worse things to our bodies so i think we are safe.

[forgop]

I'm more worried about the things in our food to include sweeteners that are linked to causing cancer in laboratory animals, genentically modified foods, asbestos, you name it more so than cigars void of the chemicals added to cigarettes that I generally don't inhale into my lungs.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but in every COPD patient I've seen thus far, not a single one was a cigar smoker. I work in a high stress/fast-paced environment. I need outlets to unwind and having a handful of cigars on a weekly basis is going to have far less of an impact on my health than what most everyone eats on a daily basis.

[irratebass]

Interesting topic that I haven't seen discussed a lot. I had 6 cigars this past Saturday (which is a lot, and I was feeling the effects and even ruined my palette that I couldn't taste a rare cigar my boss threw at me) one of the regulars in the shop is a Doctor, he is the one who tells the family that their loved one is not going to make it or that have already passed (rough job if ya ask me), anyway we were talking and he asked me how many I had that day when I told him his eyes got big and he said that 1 cigar is like 16 cigs or something like that and he added up I had like 68 cigs that day.

He asked me if I ever got a nic buzz, I told him that I did and I was drinking Coke at the moment, he said he would be more concerned if I didn't get a buzz.

Anyway not sure if it's true or not, but cigars like most of you have said relaxes me and makes me less stressful, and I'm not quitting now.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by irratebass

he said that 1 cigar is like 16 cigs or something like that .

16 cigarettes that you don't inhale.

[irratebass]

Originally Posted by icehog3

16 cigarettes that you don't inhale.

Yeah, I just said really and that I didn't know that and let it go at that, but he is a Dr and he does smoke, so I took at face value.

[markem]

I worry about this constantly. In fact, I worry about this so much that I am a nervous wreck. The only thing that seems to calm me down is a cigar.

Seriously, cigar smokers should all realize that smoking cigars has some (most think vanishingly small) affect on health, but so does yelling at the TV during a baseball/basketball/hockey/football/futball game/match.

No one gets out of this life alive, kids, so come to terms with it and live the life you want, not the life others would have for you.

[Porch Dweller]

Originally Posted by icehog3

16 cigarettes that you don't inhale.

This. I once had a dentist try to lecture me about smoking; he was stunned when I told him that you don't inhale cigar smoke.

[FUEL]

Originally Posted by Porch Dweller

This. I once had a dentist try to lecture me about smoking; he was stunned when I told him that you don't inhale cigar smoke.

About 98% of the population...

[emopunker2004]

Originally Posted by FUEL

About 98% of the population...

Yup. My buddy smoked one with me the other night. He usually smokes hookah. He inhaled and coughed something fierce. I said, yeh don't do that

[emopunker2004]

Originally Posted by icehog3

16 cigarettes that you don't inhale.

Not to mention 16 that are void if all the nasty chemicals added to cigarettes

[E.J.]

Not worried at all, though I only average about 4 sticks a week.

[hotreds]

This has actually been discussed a fair amount. Studies(fwiw) have shown that smoking one or two cigars a day WITHOUT INHALING and WITHOUT CHEWING (holding the cigar in your hands rather than mouth between puffs) will do very little to endanger your health. That being said, everyone is different so you pays your money and you takes your chances. I AM concerned about the health risks of smoking, but I DO believe that the positive far outweighs the negative when it comes to lighting up my pipe or my cigar- AND I do follow the "rulz" mentioned above- including NOT holding my pipe in my mouth between puffs either.

[357]

Originally Posted by hotreds

This has actually been discussed a fair amount. Studies(fwiw) have shown that smoking one or two cigars a day WITHOUT INHALING and WITHOUT CHEWING (holding the cigar in your hands rather than mouth between puffs) will do very little to endanger your health. That being said, everyone is different so you pays your money and you takes your chances. I AM concerned about the health risks of smoking, but I DO believe that the positive far outweighs the negative when it comes to lighting up my pipe or my cigar- AND I do follow the "rulz" mentioned above- including NOT holding my pipe in my mouth between puffs either.

Hugh is right on.

I wrote a cigar related article on a website and received a few "cigars will kill you" replies. Here's a link: http://sharpologist.com/2012/05/rela...ar-primer.html

Here's my reply:

We all know there are some risks involved in smoking or any tobacco use. However, casual cigar smoking is not considered a significant risk. While commenter Dr. K’s link shows some simple truths about tobacco, it contains some misinformation, it’s misleading, and it does not quantify risk. Similarly you could say driving causes millions of deaths per year. While true, this statement does not quantify what the real risks are. In fact it is often difficult to find pertinent data on cigar smoking. Most tobacco studies fail to quantify cigar smoking risks because their results are muddled with cigarette smokers who also smoke cigars, cigar smokers who use smokeless tobacco, or cigar smokers who are heavy alcohol users/abusers. However, one study is different. The National Cancer Institute did a comprehensive study of over 500,000 men studied for 12 years and concluded that smoking up to 1-2 cigars per day failed to show a significantly increased risk of cancer.

You can read the entire study itself here (Page 22 is a summary chart):
http://www.cancercontrol.cancer.gov/...9_complete.PDF

Or you can read two written summaries here:
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/92/4/333.long

http://www.cigargroup.com/faq/health/ncifaq.htm

That said, most cigar smokers I know smoke 1-2 cigars per week. Some are daily smokers but, the majority are not. I may enjoy 3 or 4 in a day but not smoke again for weeks. There is risk in everything from driving to work to eating fast food for lunch. As with many other things in life, moderation is key. I hope those of you interested in cigars will learn something from this guide. For those of you not interested, please do not take it as my recommendation to be like Winston Churchill and smoke a box of cigars a day.

...although, I'm not going to give you a hard time if you want to smoke a box of cigars per day.

[cben]

You never know what tomorrow will bring, if anything at all, so enjoy today.[/quote]

You hit the nail on the head Adam. My dad enjoyed his cigars and pipes to the fullist for 50 some years, He never had any health issues at all ( he's 73)
3 months ago he went to bed and woke up 1/2 hour later with a massive stroke and now lives his days in a nursing home. So with that being said, enjoy every day like it was your last.

[ArgusP2]

No, I don't.

[shilala]

Ever since I realized I have an expiration date, I don't really worry about much of anything.
I know if something is right or wrong, whether it's good for me or not. I generally ask others about these sort of things when I'm looking for someone to co-sign my bullsh1t, or help me justify enjoying lots more than is sensibly my due. That's cause I'm a weasel that way.
I found that I can smoke a few pc's a day without any negative reactions. Then I couldn't anymore, so I don't smoke that much. Others can tolerate more, and others less. They can safely figure out what's right for them.

Every second we're closer to expiring. Everything we eat, drink, breathe, or do.
If a few cigars bring joy at the end of a hard day's work, there's not a thing wrong with that, no matter what the studies say. The stress from not enjoying those cigars is likely to be equally as unhealthy.
We all need to enjoy ourselves, and there's plenty of good stuff out there to enjoy. Too much of any of it is bad for us, too little is bad for us. I can usually figure out how much is just right when I want a whole lot more, because a whole lot more ruins the fun of it.

[AdamJoshua]

After 30 some odd years I finally quit smoking, the only reason I quit was because I had the flu and just didn't smoke for 2 weeks, that was it I was done. After that I took up cigars, what can I say I enjoy nicotine, I have no desire to start smoking cigarettes again but I do enjoy my cigars and will keep enjoying them.

My mom was a model of health, never smoked, didn't drink, eat pretty well... she was hit and killed by a car when I was 17, hell she was even on the sidewalk when a piece of #*@* cut the corner going into a parking lot and hit her.

You never know what tomorrow will bring, if anything at all, so enjoy today.

[bstarrs]

I figure it's much safer than smoking cigarettes so I'm not too worried about it. I've learned that pretty much all indulgences whether it be food, tobacco, alcohol, etc, have a negative impact on health over the long run. Might as well enjoy it while you're here though.

[jjirons69]

Not at all.

See - George Burns...

Everybody dies of something, except those people that die of nothing.

Nobody gets out alive.