My wife the doctor

MorganGeo

She says smoking cigars is lowering my immune system. You should hear her and her mom on the phone. I want to go run out into traffic. Any doctors out there know if there is any truth to that? I would say our love of crappy food and our poor diet would lower my immune system but not cigars.

catfishbluezz

Sinuses sure why not. If you smoke enough, it will affect them. It does affect mine, and when I get sick, I stop smoking. Otherwise, if you drink carrot juice every morning, plenty of fruit, veggies, and get your vitamins...no way Jose. Soda's are much worse...

WaltBasil

MorganGeo:

She says smoking cigars is lowering my immune system. You should hear her and her mom on the phone. I want to go run out into traffic. Any doctors out there know if there is any truth to that? I would say our love of crappy food and our poor diet would lower my immune system but not cigars.

truth , yo. In fact, you need to send me your stash. Remove that temptation to dilute your immune system.

Rain

By binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, nicotine increases the levels of several neurotransmitters – acting as a sort of "volume control". It is thought that increased levels of dopamine in the reward circuits of the brain one of the major contributors of the apparent euphoria and relaxation, and addiction caused by nicotine consumption. This release of dopamine induced by nicotine is thought to occur via a cholinergic–dopaminergic link, mediated by a neuropeptide, ghrelin, in the ventral tegmentum. Nicotine has a higher affinity for acetylcholine receptors in the brain than those in skeletal muscle, though at toxic doses it can induce contractions and respiratory paralysis. Nicotine's selectivity is thought to be due to a particular amino acid difference on these receptor subtypes.Wiki.Think it also mentioned cancer. Meh.

wwhwang

Poor diet and a sedentary lifestyle is worse for the body than anything else. A heavy cigarette smoker that's eating healthy and is active will be at risk for cancer, but would be at much lower risk of heart disease and immunity problems than non-smokers that sit on the couch and do nothing all day.

Not only that, any study that refers to tobacco and immunity deficiencies are all exclusively about cigarettes.

ejgorman

MorganGeo:

She says smoking cigars is lowering my immune system. You should hear her and her mom on the phone. I want to go run out into traffic. Any doctors out there know if there is any truth to that? I would say our love of crappy food and our poor diet would lower my immune system but not cigars.

As a DC (Doctor of Chiropractic) and Certified Nutritional Counselor, I have to agree with you. The Standard American Diet (SAD) - specifically the chronic inflammation associated with it - is a bigger contributing factor to disease in this country than any other single factor. Immune system function has more to do with the gastrointestinal (GI) tract than any other system and foods with a high glycemic index (feeds bacteria), foods high in sodium (acidic pH allows pathogens to thrive) and gluten-containing grains (induce autoimmunity in the gut causing leaky gut) can all wreak havoc on your GI tract. Smoking cigars can harm the mucus membrane in the mouth and throat (and lungs for those who inhale...not sure how they do it), which would lower immune function, but in the grand scheme of things you'd be doing more harm by scarfing down pasta eating doughnuts for breakfast.

brianetz1

ejgorman:

MorganGeo:

She says smoking cigars is lowering my immune system. You should hear her and her mom on the phone. I want to go run out into traffic. Any doctors out there know if there is any truth to that? I would say our love of crappy food and our poor diet would lower my immune system but not cigars.

As a DC (Doctor of Chiropractic) and Certified Nutritional Counselor, I have to agree with you. The Standard American Diet (SAD) - specifically the chronic inflammation associated with it - is a bigger contributing factor to disease in this country than any other single factor. Immune system function has more to do with the gastrointestinal (GI) tract than any other system and foods with a high glycemic index (feeds bacteria), foods high in sodium (acidic pH allows pathogens to thrive) and gluten-containing grains (induce autoimmunity in the gut causing leaky gut) can all wreak havoc on your GI tract. Smoking cigars can harm the mucus membrane in the mouth and throat (and lungs for those who inhale...not sure how they do it), which would lower immune function, but in the grand scheme of things you'd be doing more harm by scarfing down pasta eating doughnuts for breakfast.

Amos Umwhat

So, promise her you'll stop eating your cigars, and conscienciously dispose of them in an approved fashion. (approved by your BOTL, that is)

pross

The leading cause of death is birth.

Sometimes our choices along the way dictate the cause, oftentimes not. Enjoy the space in the middle the best you can, and let the chips fall where they may.

Lee.mcglynn

So does the anti bacterial hand crap but who stops people from using that all the time??