Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It's funny, but I actually read something about this fairly recently. And it got me to thinking about it.
Let's put it this way.
Smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day from age 20 until the rest of your life I think puts your risk of developing lung cancer over your lifetime at about 25-33%.
I will also say that if anybody has ever had cancer or known anybody who has advanced stage cancer, then you will do anything in your power to avoid getting it.
But I would probably say the risks of getting cancer from alcohol consumption in my lifetime consuming an average of 20 drinks a month are probably really low.
Heavy drinking can also destroy the heart. And team heavy drinking with smoking, it definitely can destroy the heart, and pulmonary and respiratory systems.
And smoking alone without drinking can cause heart disease, and compromises the effective working of the respiratory system. (can lead to serious lung diseases - COPD and emphysema)
Yes. My stepfather was a healthy weight, active person. But he smoked. He also was a heavy drinker, averaging 3-4 drinks a day. He certainly wasn't an alcoholic, and many people may think that's not excessive or heavy, but clinically, that is considered heavy drinking.
He died of a heart attack when he was 46. Autopsy showed a very diseased heart. His smoking and drinking ultimately caused his early death. Both of his parents went on to live into their 90s, so I don't know how much genetics had to do with it.
My brother died at 61 from heavy drinking, and smoking since the age of 14.
They did an autopsy and his heart was destroyed, and his lungs, pulmonary, and respiratory systems were deeply harmed. He had COPD.
Heavy drinking can destroy the heart. Smoking can also cause heart disease, and very often does.
And smoking can cause COPD which is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (lung & pulmonary disease) which can also include severe emphysema - where breathing can become more and more difficult.
It was his destroyed heart which killed him. Including heart disease affecting transport of blood to the heart. A doctor told him he would be dying soon because his heart would stop. And his heart did stop a couple months later.
So many people do not know that smoking can cause heart disease and often does. (they think smoking just causes cancer) And many people think just the liver is harmed by excessive drinking, and have no idea that excessive drinking can severely harm the heart.
And the throat/esophagus stomach, and it can cause high blood pressure and therefore kidney problems, it elevates your triglycerides, etc...I realized that I wasn't in college anymore and reduced my drinking a lot a year or so ago and my triglycerides/cholesterol numbers greatly improved. Moving in with my now wife also helped.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve McDonald
There has been quite a bit of rationalizing and risk-minimalization by the drinkers on this thread. The bottom line of the report I cited, was that there is no amount of alcohol consumption that is considered to be safe. If it makes people feel better to find reports that recommend drinking moderate amounts for health, then let them do it and face whatever consequences might come their way. But this is just one reason why our healthcare costs are higher than ever, which does affect us all.
Here's the thing...the correlation between (for example) smoking and cancer, emphysema, and COPD is strong enough that almost all of us over the age of 25 have seen what a life of heavy smoking does to you in most cases. Even if you don't get cancer, life tied to an O2 tank struggling to breathe or walk across a room seems miserable enough.
And, most of us have seen what uncurbed drinking will do as well. Anyone that's seen someone wake up with the shakes, or develop liver failure, or throw up or pee blood, or anything else should have a very clear picture of where unchecked abuse of alcohol will eventually lead.
But, most people don't see a clear correlation between moderate drinking and cancer. 3.5% of cancer deaths are caused by alcohol, compared to 30% caused by smoking. That 3.5% includes those that drink heavily and those that drink lightly and those that drink in moderation and those that don't touch a drop. That's rare enough that most people won't see it.
That means, that to see one person die from cancer caused by alcohol, you would have to see 28 cancer deaths. Think about that.
If you've seen five people die of cancer, one or two of them can be attributed to smoking, statistically.
I've known about the cancer risk and heavy drinking for decades. I was in health care and looking at patient's histories, you could see the connection between smoking and drinking. My mother died from breast cancer at 62. She lived with smokers and was a heavy drinker. My father died at 48 from cardiac disease. He was also a heavy drinker and smoker. I lost a friend at 59 from drinking and her sister died of the same esophageal cancer in her 50's. Their mother died from lung cancer from smoking.
I'm very careful about my alcohol intake. I'm pretty strict about only 3 drinks a week. Sometimes I do it in one day, but rarely. Then I won't touch it again for weeks.
My sister in law died at 62 from pancreatic cancer. She smoked and was a heavy drinker for years. That is just way too much life to give up for the sake of a drink and a cigarette.
It's fairly simple. Alcohol impacts the health and functionality of the liver. The liver cleans the body of toxins. Put both together and see where that leads.
Smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day from age 20 until the rest of your life I think puts your risk of developing lung cancer over your lifetime at about 25-33%.
You're more likely to get heart disease than cancer from smoking 2 packs of cigarettes per day.
Smoking causes heart disease, and heart disease is the biggest killer in the U.S.
Although smoking does, indeed, cause cancer and not just lung cancer - smoking can cause pancreatic cancer, throat cancer, and a myriad of other cancers.
I've known about the cancer risk and heavy drinking for decades. I was in health care and looking at patient's histories, you could see the connection between smoking and drinking. My mother died from breast cancer at 62. She lived with smokers and was a heavy drinker. My father died at 48 from cardiac disease. He was also a heavy drinker and smoker. I lost a friend at 59 from drinking and her sister died of the same esophageal cancer in her 50's. Their mother died from lung cancer from smoking.
I'm very careful about my alcohol intake. I'm pretty strict about only 3 drinks a week. Sometimes I do it in one day, but rarely. Then I won't touch it again for weeks.
My sister in law died at 62 from pancreatic cancer. She smoked and was a heavy drinker for years. That is just way too much life to give up for the sake of a drink and a cigarette.
The combination of both behaviors does seem particularly dangerous...
Wrong. These "professionals" test a thesis under specified conditions and report their results. Then an incompetent media and even more unqualified readers morph it all into something it never was.
WRONG......these incompetent "professionals" do a bunch of studies, often flawed, and then report their conflicting findings by throwing whatever theories about causation against a wall and seeing what sticks/which finding holds the most water in public opinion.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
