smoking!!!

[samrat shrestha]

hi to everyone,
Now let's discuss about my confusion...it's said that passive smokers are affected more,it's more injurious to them but how?? won't the active smoker be afftected more than him?? we'd a long discussion at our hostel last night about it but we couldn't came to definitive conclusion.
may be it's said that the risk to the passive smoker is more as he isn't smoking isn't it? or the matter is the other way . could you guys get me out of it...

[btimalsena]

it's not passive smokers affected more than active ones, its jus that inspite of not smoking they are at certain level risk (active smokers at highest risk)

[Soul]

Passive smoking is obviously not harmful than active smoking. I read somewhere that WHO had withheld from publication of a study which showed no link between passive smoking and lung cancer. In the contrary there are several studies which show excess risk of lung cancer in life-long nonsmokers who lived with a smoker. However, none of the study reported that passive smokers have greater risk than active smokers.

[flirt]

Active smokers are at absolute risk where as passive smokers are at relative risk. Passive smokers are associated with respiratory problems or heart problems which has good prognosis but the active smokers are at risk of many diseases that have poor prognosis like cancers. In active smoking the carcinogens are relatively much much higher than passive smoking. Passive smoking is injurious to health because it is a kind of air pollution. Active smoking is even more injurious to health because it is a risk factor for many disease.

[tunisia_x]

my friend as long as I think the smoke didn't kill/hurt any one directly. Beside that it helps other disease work more effectively. So it depends on the patients that how much immune he is against all those disease. If he is immune then there is no problem, if he is not then the result can be fetal for him.

[Walrus]

Tunisia, do you mean to say one can develop immunity against effect of smoking? Can you please explain that to us.

[hydatidcyst]

Tunisia, you have written something that's completely out of this world. I don't understand how on earth a person can be immune against the consequences of smoking and how smoking can decrease the immunity thus leading to the conditions.

[Walrus]

Ok, I understand now what Tunisia is saying.

But, that is wrong and that understanding about 'smoking' is dangerous. If you are in field of medicine then you have to revise your udnerstanding of smoking esle that might be very harmful for many. SMOKING KILLS AND ALSO MAKES LIFE A LIVING HELL.

But, you pointed out a very important aspect of effect of smoking.

I cannot agree with you that one can be immune from the ill effects of smoking (person may develop some tolerance but I don't think that is significant enough for mentioning).

But, Hydatidcyst - I have to partially disagree with you too.

Smoking has effect of immunity. It has been shown by many epidemiological studies and also verified by animal studies. If you want reference please refer to PubMed; you will find lot of interesting studies. But, in summary, cigarette smoke adversely affects both humoral and cellular immunity not only locally in the bronchial trees but systemically.

Doctors practicing should not overlook at the relation between immunity and passive smoking (relating to the original topic of this thread). Children who are exposed to ETS (environmental tobacco smoke) are vulnerable to almost all kinds of infectious disease and have higher incidence of respiratory and ENT infections. Asthmatic children have more severe disease if the parents smoke (more firm relation with smoking mother).

Another interesting relation is smoking and autoimmune diseases.

Smokers with Grave's Disease have increased severity of opthalmopathy; person becomes more susceptible to RA; there is more pulmonary bleeding in goodpasteur's diease.

There are many more such examples if you look for.

In short, smoking is not good at all. Passive smoking is also dangerous. We should press the authority to ban smoking at public places and try to establish smoking areas with ventilation. But, minimal we can do is persuade people not to smoke when other's are around and never in the same room or nearby room when a children is there. It is exaggerating a bit but once I read in a book about passive smoking and ill effect to a child, smoking in the same apartment when a child is there is like pissing in a swimming pool. You cannot say you can smoke near the window and think the child is Ok. The smoke will be everywhere.

[Soul]

Good info Walrus. I also agree tunisia_x that smoking (actually nicotine) and immune system has direct relationship. Nicotine stimulates different immune cells to release inflammatory cytokines which play important role in atherosclerosis as well as plaque rupture.

[hydatidcyst]

Thanks Walrus, I think I could not make my point clear. I understand that smoking interferes with the immune system (Both Cellular and humoral), no doubt about that. What I did not understand in Tunisia's message was that Tunisia was trying to say smoking leads to decrease in the immunity and thus this causes the diseases. It's not only the interference with the immune system that lead to diseases, smoking can cause many diseases directly.

Anyways, the bottom line is smoking, whether it is active or passive, both are not only dangerous, but DEADLY !!!!