Smoking- can some people never be scared out of it?

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

A lifetime of smoking has ruined my dad's lungs (he's 67), he suffers from COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and has had bad spells here and there due to being so susceptible to chest infections. He's seen this before, his mum had the same but was in her late seventies/early eighties before it was ever anything more than just being a bit breathless.

Last Sunday morning he was rushed to the hospital, me in the back of the ambulance with him, watching him gasp desperately for every breath he could, conscious but unresponsive, not knowing if he was going to make it. Talking to the doctor later revealed he was a gnat's whisker away from cardiac arrest in the ambulance, a 20 minute journey.

He got discharged today, I've just taken him home and on the way back as we're coming up to the local co-op, he asks me if we can stop in and get a 'last couple packs of fags'. I was almost about to until I actually registered what he said.

I feel helpless here, what on earth can I do if all that ends up in still wanting to smoke? Seeing a parent in the back of an ambulance like that is horrific and all I can think about is preparing for it happening again at some point in the near-ish future.

[Lewis]

It sounds like he likes it.

[Yevrah]

I don't think some people can be and it's probably because (irrespective of whether they smoke or not) we're all going to die and none of us know when.

[Magic]

If that hasn't put him off then not much you can do apart from make him feel really guilty on his death bed to ensure that's the last thing he remembers.

[Spammer]

I'd go with the above.

In fairness it's his life so he can do what he wants with it. It's worth expressing how it's impacting you for your own sanity, but at the same it's ultimately his choice.

Just my two cents.

[-james-]

Some people seem unable to function without them. My dad's best mate (and the rest of Greece lolol) smokes forty a day. Fucking disgusting. And that's before you take into account the percentage of his pay it accounts for.

Gets pissy when you suggest he cuts down. Mental.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

I'd go with the above.

In fairness it's his life so he can do what he wants with it. It's worth expressing how it's impacting you for your own sanity, but at the same it's ultimately his choice.

Just my two cents.

Minus the whole guilt thing on the death bed...

[Offshore Toon]

I'm convinced that when people get old in Scotland they drink and smoke more in hope that they'll die early. If I were you I'd try and talk some sense into him, but if that fails then just resign yourself to the fact he's dying so it won't effect you too much when it happens.

[Spikey M]

Especially the guilt trip.

[Dark Soldier]

I smoke 10-15 a day. I know the risks, dangers, had an uncle get throat cancer and die due to it (he was a cunt though so fuck him). I just like the habit and routine of it all, fully aware its an addiction and its fucking me up.

[Magic]

Get Smiff to threaten him.

[Waffdon]

I smoke 10-15 a day. I know the risks, dangers, had an uncle get throat cancer and die due to it (he was a cunt though so fuck him). I just like the habit and routine of it all, fully aware its an addiction and its fucking me up.

Yessir

Well, not the throat cancer thing.

[Spammer]

Minus the whole guilt thing on the death bed...

Yeah that wasn't there when I posted

[randomlegend]

If you get laryngeal cancer you have to have an operation which leaves you with a hole in the front of your throat.

The resp nurses all have stories of people who've had the above and then continue smoking through the throat hole.

Different addiction but same principle, I met a guy who got totally fucked on heroin and passed out, got compartment syndrome and lost both legs below the knee. Still takes heroin.

So no, some people can't be scared out of it it seems.

[Shindig]

A dependency is just that. It's really hard to break without genuine determination.

[The Merse]

It's an horrific addiction. I find it incredibly difficult to stay off it, despite mass

[Lewis]

Different addiction but same principle, I met a guy who got totally fucked on heroin and passed out, got compartment syndrome and lost both legs below the knee. Still takes heroin.

Lad.

[Henry]

I find the whole thing genuinely disgusting on several levels.

[Smiffy]

It's an horrific addiction. I find it incredibly difficult to stay off it, despite mass

This.

I think I started smoking when I was 18 and it was a 20 deck a day job until I switched to tobacco which then probably exceeded even that. Obviously you might expect it to be easier but knocking the ganja on the head compared to the nicotine has been a doddle and the urge for a crafty cigarette is still there, especially yesterday as I had to look after my two nephews for an hour or so.

Day #11 no smoking and it does feel different. The first couple of days were absolutely brutal but the timeline I follow says that's the peak withdrawal stage, at the stage I'm at now I should only be experiencing 2/3 urges a day and minor ones at that which has sort of been right but the tips I've picked up is to go do something different, go step outside or even just walk up and down the stairs, go to the shop etc. The first major target is to get to 3 months. It seems a long way off so if your dad was trying to quit after I imagine almost 50 years then I imagine it would be absolutely horrible especially as he's seen it in his own mother.

I take it he hasn't tried vaping or something? I was tempted but cold turkey seemed the best bet. Well, cold turkey and a sucky sweets. I've replaced them for apples in the last couple of days though.

[Spammer]

I know an old woman who had throat cancer due to smoking. When I met her during radiotherapy she was literally crying about how hard it she was finding it and wishing the cancer would go away...while lighting up a cigarette.

She's been smoking for 50 years and 'can't stop' apparently, so I've left her to it. Daft cow. She's alright though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I met a man yesterday who is 85, and has smoked 60 a day for the last 65 years. He's probably between 2 and 4 weeks from death, I would guess from looking at him, but at the same time he's done bloody well to get this far.

[Lewis]

Whenever you see some new oldest person on the news they inevitably drink every day and 'gave up smoking at ninety lol'. Has anyone ever studied really old smokers to see whether they somehow resist the effects of it all, or do some people just get lucky and wheeze on with otherwise tragic insides?

[randomlegend]

People are more or less genetically susceptible to the smoking damage does.

Which of those you are you can't know before you start (yet...), and even if you are someone who is relatively less susceptible that's not a guarantee you may not still get fucked by it.

As far as I understand nobody is thought to be genetically immune.

[Smiffy]

Lifestyle init. I imagine a heavy smoker who's job happens to involve plenty of physical movement or a lot of walking suffers less than an office worker etc. It's too simplistic to say if you smoke then this or that happens. It will inevitably catch up eventually when you're that old given you don't know what is going on inside your body but I imagine you hear about the younger ones first and foremost because of their age. What probably doesn't get mentioned is that they ate shit all their lives, sat down and the most exercise they'd do was jumping from car to office chair and back before going home and slumming out on the sofa.

[randomlegend]

Lol, no.

[Smiffy]

But why not? It must play a part to some degree?

[randomlegend]

You might increase your risk slightly by having a shit lifestyle on top of smoking, but you are absolutely not going to protect yourself from it's harm by having a 'good lifestyle' otherwise.

It is just by FAR the biggest contributing factor to things like COPD and the lung cancers it's associated with. Any other factors pale into insignificance by comparison.

https://patient.info/doctor/lung-cancer-pro

About 90% of lung cancers are caused by smoking.

Risk factors

Active or passive cigarette smoking is the major risk factor. One study found that cigarette smoking was associated with larger tumours than non-smoking at time of presentation[5].

Increased age.

People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. There may be explanations other than smoking (eg, genetic predisposition) for this association[6].
People with a previous history of cancer (especially head and neck)[7].

Industrial dust diseases, asbestos, chromium, arsenic, iron oxides and radiation.

The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its ligands are frequently expressed in NSCLC and the EGFR tyrosine kinase (EGFR-TK) inhibitors erlotinib and gefitinib have shown clinical activity in the subgroup of patients with NSCLC who test positive for the EGFR-TK mutation[8].

To give an example. Other lifestyle factors (other than working in a cancer factory) aren't even listed.

[Magic]

Lifestyle init. I imagine a heavy smoker who's job happens to involve plenty of physical movement or a lot of walking suffers less than an office worker etc. It's too simplistic to say if you smoke then this or that happens. It will inevitably catch up eventually when you're that old given you don't know what is going on inside your body but I imagine you hear about the younger ones first and foremost because of their age. What probably doesn't get mentioned is that they ate shit all their lives, sat down and the most exercise they'd do was jumping from car to office chair and back before going home and slumming out on the sofa.

That's the most lolworthy attempt at justifying something to oneself I've ever seen.

[Smiffy]

What can I say, I'm the .gif that keeps on .giffing

Toggle Spoiler

I still don't think it's as black and white as suggested. I was in fact responding to Lewis's comment so I never disagreed with yours. Of course it will screw you eventually but being active or eating healthier must have some good effect?

[randomlegend]

If it does it's marginal.

If you gave yourself a thousand X-rays or lived in a nuclear exclusion zone, you wouldn't think "well if only I'd jogged a bit more" when you ended up with cancer.

[Magic]

If it does it's marginal.

If you gave yourself a thousand X-rays or lived in a nuclear exclusion zone, you wouldn't think "well if only I'd jogged a bit more" when you ended up with cancer.

Yes. Yes he would.

[Smiffy]

If it does it's marginal.

If you gave yourself a thousand X-rays or lived in a nuclear exclusion zone, you wouldn't think "well if only I'd jogged a bit more" when you ended up with cancer.

Lung cancer is a prime example. Although smoking increases the risk of the disease, exercise seems to provide a protective effect. In a 2006 study, women who were current or former smokers and had high levels of physical activity were less likely to develop lung cancer than those who were more sedentary.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/liv...le9002258.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3696993/

Just sayin'. I haven't claimed it stops you developing anything. Just that it could play a part in delaying it.

[Pepe]

Donned.

[Pepe]

No wonder he's struggling in med school.

[Pepe]

Just kidding lads, I am not a bully.

[randomlegend]

"Thecharlotteobserver" with an entirely unreferenced mention of "a 2006 study" isn't going to sway me too much I have to say.

If you are going to smoke, you are still better off to have a good lifestyle otherwise, obviously. It's not, as far as I understand, going to significantly modulate your chances of getting a smoking-related disease.

[Smiffy]

"Thecharlotteobserver" with an entirely unreferenced mention of "a 2006 study" isn't going to sway me too much I have to say.

If you are going to smoke, you are still better off to have a good lifestyle otherwise, obviously. It's not, as far as I understand, going to significantly modulate your chances of getting a smoking-related disease.

That's why I linked the National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health one too.

[randomlegend]

Did you edit that or am I just blind?

The analyses presented here provide further evidence that recreational activity is protective against lung cancer risk in ex- and non-smokers.

[Offshore Toon]

Was definitely an edit.

[Smiffy]

Did you edit that or am I just blind?

I edited with the better link but that's all.

Again though, I never said exercise will stop anything I just said I believed it played a part in why some are able resist the effects of it as they get older. It was in response to Lewis, you hadn't posted by time I was replying.

I don't believe it's so black and white.