Tobacco Avoidance

Dr. Fred Klenner, MD claims that patients with myasthenia gravis will hinder their progress if they use tobacco.

Smoking is the chief cause of intermittent claudication.

Even damage from a history of heavy smoking can be reversed by quitting.  The longer the period of time that passes after quitting, the greater the return toward normal vascular health.

The vast majority of people who develop leukoplakia are smokers, and most leukoplakic patches either improve or disappear within a year of stopping smoking.

Cigarette smoking not only causes ulcer formation, but also increases the risk of ulcer complications such as bleeding, stomach obstruction and perforation.  Cigarette smoking is also a leading cause of ulcer medication treatment failure: smoking slows the healing of ulcers.

A study of 474 smokers with Crohn's disease found that patients who stopped smoking for more than 1 year had similar rates of flare-ups as patients who never smoked, and both groups had fewer problems than current smokers.  Quitters, for example, had a 65% lower risk of flare-up than patients who were still smoking [Gastroenterology, April 2001].  Furthermore, smoking significantly increases the likelihood for Crohn's disease symptoms after surgery, particularly in women and heavy smokers.

Smokers have lower than average rates of ulcerative colitis, but higher than average rates of Crohn's disease.  Some patients with ulcerative colitis, in fact, have reported that their disorder began after they quit smoking, and many studies have reinforced the association between smoking and protection against ulcerative colitis.  Studies are showing that the nicotine patch helps to induce remission and reduce symptoms in almost 40% of patients who use it for four weeks.  Another study found, however, that patches are not useful for maintaining remission.  Side-effects, particularly in nonsmokers, include nausea, lightheadedness, and headache.  Investigators are studying methods of applying nicotine directly into the colon.  (No one should smoke for relief of ulcerative colitis symptoms; the risks from cigarettes far outweigh the potential benefits of their nicotine.)

Stopping smoking will help delay retinopathy.

Smoking in pregnancy is very clearly linked to a higher risk of miscarriages, low birth weight babies and premature babies.  There is also a link to risks of stillbirths and babies dying in the first few weeks of life.  This is due to nicotine which decreases the amount of blood delivered to the fetus, therefore less nutrients and oxygen is received by the baby.

The current recommendation of doctors is for the mother to not smoke at all, however if the mother is having difficulty quitting, 3-6 cigarettes a day is the absolute maximum.  If you are a smoker, the best time to stop is before you get pregnant because the first few weeks of pregnancy are crucial to the development of the baby.  Also, you should encourage other members of the family to quit smoking or not to smoke in your presence because passive smoking may be damaging to the mother and fetus.  In addition, smoking around your new-born increases his/her risk of developing asthma and other respiratory disease.

Cigarette smoking is associated with female infertility due to tubal and cervical causes.  In animal studies, nicotine has not only been shown to decrease tubal motility and blood flow, but appears to decrease estrogen levels as well.  Cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, is found in the cervical mucus of female smokers, and may be toxic to sperm.

A very strong association exists between smoking and cluster headaches.

A history of smoking may play a small role in the onset of panic disorder in women, but not in men.

Smoking intensifies the problems of a hangover because of the additional toxins and further dehydration.

Nicotine can affect the brain and inner ear by stimulating nerve cell receptors that constrict blood vessels, thereby triggering nausea and vomiting.  Smoking can also block the effects of certain drugs that are used to treat Meniere's Disease, and injure parts of the inner ear.

Smoking has been shown to increase the risk of developing osteoporosis.

Studies have shown that women who smoke one pack of cigarettes per day have on average 5-10% less bone density at menopause than do nonsmokers.

People who smoke have an increased risk of back pain.  If you stop smoking, your back pain may improve.

There is steadily increasing evidence that smoking directly contributes to damaging the delicate blood vessels that form the glomeruli, even in people who do not have a chronic kidney disease.

Diabetics should control blood sugar and blood pressure closely and should refrain from smoking.

Smoking is the primary cause of COPD.

If you smoke, the best defense against acute bronchitis is to quit.  Smoking damages your bronchial tree, making it easier for viruses to cause infection and slowing down the healing process.  The bronchial tree will heal faster if you cut down on the number of cigarettes or, better still, stop smoking altogether.

Even second-hand smoke should be avoided.  In a study of passive smoke exposure, cotinine levels, when tested in asthmatic children, correlated with their bronchial sensitivity.  The higher the level of cotinine in the child's urine, the worse the child's bronchial sensitivity.  This held true for adults also. [Clin Chem 1999;45(4): pp.505-9]

As well as causing bad breath, tobacco use is a major cause of body odor.  Not only does it come back through your lungs, but it comes through the skin.  It probably mixes with other elements of your body's chemistry to create a distinct odor.  If you stop smoking it may take several weeks for the body to rid itself of odor-causing substances.

The following study suggests a link between cigarette smoking and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.  In 17,633 U.S. male insurance policy holders, 49 deaths from Hodgkin's lymphoma and 21 from multiple myeloma occurred during a 20 year follow-up.  Men who had ever smoked cigarettes had an elevated mortality for non-Hodgkin's, with a risk almost fourfold greater among the heaviest smokers compared with those who used no tobacco.

In people who have already been diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, symptoms may be less likely to flare up if the patient stops smoking cigarettes.

Studies show that cigarette smoking relaxes the lower esophageal sphincter (LES).

The best way to prevent multi-infarct dementia is to avoid smoking and alcohol, maintain a balanced diet, take regular exercise, have a positive attitude, and keep high blood pressure and diabetes under control.

Put simply, tobacco ages you.  Female and male smokers age 40 and older are two to three times more likely to have moderate to severe wrinkling compared to nonsmokers.

Not smoking is the most effective way to prevent kidney cancer and it is estimated that the elimination of smoking would reduce the rate of renal pelvis cancer by one-half and the rate of renal cell carcinoma by one-third.

Non-smokers have a significantly lower risk of developing stomach cancer.

Smoking increases your risk of colorectal cancer.