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London, England (AHN)-Although smoking is known to cause numerous health problems, including a shortened life-span, one London woman seems to be immune to the perils of cigarettes.
Winnie Langley, who turned 100 on Tuesday, celebrated her century-marking birthday by lighting up her 170,000th cigarette-a feat most would consider to anathema to a long life. However, not for Ms. Lamgley, who has been smoking since 1914, when she was just seven years old.
The one-time launderette worker says she first started smoking a couple of weeks after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, whose death helped spark the First World War.
"A lot of people smoked during the war. It helped steady the nerves," Langley said.
100 Year-Old Smoker Defies Health Warnings | August 30, 2007 | AHN (http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008346331 - broken link)
I'm guessing that she has a strong immune system enabling her to fight off the harmful effects of tobacco.
My grandmother and her brothers & sisters all lived into their late 90's. None of them ate a really healthy diet, and some of them smoked. But, they were all very active and they generally avoided doctors & prescription drugs as much as possible. Prescription drugs kill! Tobacco as bad as it is, is a lightweight compared to many pharmaceuticals.
Well, the issue here is that you can't make inferences about something by only one observation.
ie) You turn on the TV to watch just one shot of one golf game and see Tiger Woods slice one into the water. You conclude he's a bad golfer.
On average, if you smoke a lot....you will die an earlier death. Ditto for being really overweight, a habitual drinker\driver or someone that likes to share needles with junkies.
My former boss was a heavy smoker....his only real vice....kept in otherwise great shape. One of his pet peeves was being lectured about smoking by someone 50-60lbs. overweight. :-)
Also, how do you explain the fact that Japan has the lowest rates of lung cancer on the planet--despite the fact that over 55% of Japananese teens and adults smoke--one of the highest rates in the world.
I know what you mean about Japanese smoking. I was once stuck on a JAL flight from LA to Tokyo. About 80% of the passengers were Japanese businessmen returning home. On this particular flight, my wife and I were about the ONLY passengers not smoking. If there was so much as a single molecule of non polluted air on that airliner, it was certaily not a molecule that made its way to my nostrils. Man, that was the nastiest flight I've ever been on. I highly recommend NOT flying JAL if you are a non-smoker. In all fairness to JAL, other than the polluted air, the service was top of the line.
As for the low incidence of lung cancer, again, I would guess that it has to do with a strong immune system! The Japanese as a society eat a healthier diet than Americans, and they don't rely so heavily upon prescription drugs, many of which serve to further weaken the body's immune system.
regards....Franco
Last edited by CosmicWizard; 08-30-2007 at 01:58 PM..
Also, how do you explain the fact that Japan has the lowest rates of lung cancer on the planet--despite the fact that over 55% of Japananese teens and adults smoke--one of the highest rates in the world.
Probably diet comes into play with those statistics..........
Inside Japan: Surprising Facts About Japanese Foodways (http://westonaprice.org/traditional_diets/japan.html - broken link)
She’s old maybe she didn’t or couldn’t read the small print on the package that said it was a hazard to you health?
However she is only one who lives long and tells of smoking, how about the tens of thousands who failed to live beyond their 20’s due to smoking?
With smoking 170,000 cigarettes at a price of only $3.50 a pack @ 8,500 packs she would have spent $29,750 or more on smoking. Now I know that todays prices per pack may be a little higher but it looks like her money went up in smoke over the years.
Obviously she had good genes to deal with the smoking and her longevity. However until these ''Personel Genomes'' come out (in about 10 years) we just take a chance when we smoke or drink or eat a fast food diet and see if we live long or die young......
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