Smoking

[HerefordSire]

Further reasearch is required to produce the actual documents referred below. If you have trouble locating one, let me know and I will see if I can get the document.

New, cutting-edge research indicates even greater medical applications for nicotine:

"This study demonstrates that nicotine stimulates recovery from brain damage and the results are discussed in relation to neural mechanism and potential applications." (Brown RW, Gonzalez CL, Whishaw IQ, Kolb B, "Nicotine improvement of Morris water task performance after fimbria-fornix lesion is blocked by mecamylamine," Behav Brain Research, Mar 15, 2001.)

"The research, involving animal studies, showed that the nicotine agent created more new blood vessels in blocked arteries than any other known growth factor. The new agent could be used to treat failing hearts and limbs with poor circulation. It holds the potential for non-surgical heart by-pass procedures." (Company Press Release, "Research Indicating That Nicotine Holds Potential for Non-Surgical Heart By-Pass Procedures Honored by the American College of Cardiology," 3/17/00)

"Nicotine might be a surprising alternative someday for treating stubborn forms of tuberculosis….'The compound stopped the growth of tuberculosis in laboratory tests, even when used in small quantities,' said Saleh Naser, an associate professor of microbiology and molecular biology at UCF.... Naser said nicotine worked better than about 10 other substances also tested." ("Shocker: 'Villain' nicotine slays TB," Robyn Suriano, Orlando Sentinel, 5/22/01).

"In addition, nicotine can exert a neuroprotective effect by attenuation of AA-induced upregulation of nNOS metabolism. These data may have therapeutic implication for the treatment of acute spinal cord trauma." (Toborek M, Garrido R, Malecki A, Kaiser S, et al, "Nicotine Attenuates Arachidonic Acid-Induced Overexpression of Nitric Oxide Synthase in Cultured Spinal Cord Neurons," Experimental Neurology, 161(2), Feb 2000).

"According to a new study, nicotine may reduce cramping and other symptoms of colitis, a painful intestinal disease that affects hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. and millions around the world. The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (Mar 1, 1997), could lead to better treatment for the estimated 320,000 people who suffer from ulcerative colitis in the US." (AP, Mar 1, 1997).

Possible use of nicotine in the prevention of classical Kaposi's sarcoma with KS herpes virus infection. (Goedert J, Vitale F, Lorenzo G, Romano N, National Cancer Institute, "Classical Kaposi's Sarcoma With KS Herpes Virus Infection: Reduced Risk with Cigarette Smoking," Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research, Vol 42, March 2001).

Treatment of clinical depression. "That could mean a whole new arena for new antidepressant drugs. It's quite possible you could make derivatives of nicotine that wouldn't have the medical complications of nicotine but could prove very useful in the treatment of clinical depression." Dr. Alexander Glassman, chief of clinical psychopharmacology at Columbia University's New York State Psychiatric Institute (quoted in "Kicking Habit Kicks Up Depression," Neil Sherman, HealthScout, 6/19/01).

http://www.forces.org/evidence/pharma/gold.htm

 

[HerefordSire]

Another doctor saying different. More info behind the link at the bottom of the page.

Smoking Does Not
Cause Lung Cancer
(According to WHO/CDC Data)*

By: James P. Siepmann, MD

Yes, it is true, smoking does not cause lung cancer. It is only one of many risk factors for lung cancer. I initially was going to write an article on how the professional literature and publications misuse the language by saying "smoking causes lung cancer"1,2, but the more that I looked into how biased the literature, professional organizations, and the media are, I modified this article to one on trying to put the relationship between smoking and cancer into perspective. (No, I did not get paid off by the tobacco companies, or anything else like that.)
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You don't see this type of information being reported, and we hear things like, "if you smoke you will die" but when we actually look at the data, lung cancer accounts for only 2% of the annual deaths worldwide and only 3% in the US.**
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The process of developing cancer is complex and multifactorial. It involves genetics, the immune system, cellular irritation, DNA alteration, dose and duration of exposure, and much more. Some of the known risk factors include genetics4,5,6, asbestos exposure7, sex8, HIV status9, vitamin deficiency10, diet11,12,13, pollution14 , shipbuilding15 and even just plain old being lazy.16 When some of these factors are combined they can have a synergistic effect17, but none of these risk factors are directly and independently responsible for "causing" lung cancer!
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USWM smokers have a lifetime relative risk of dying from lung cancer of only 8 (not the 20 or more that is based on an annual death rate and therefore virtually useless).

No study has ever shown that casual cigar smoker (<5 cigars/wk, not inhaled) has an increased incidence of lung cancer.

Lung cancer is not in even in the top 5 causes of death, it is only #9.**

All cancers combined account for only 13% of all annual deaths and lung cancer only 2%.**

Occasional cigarette use (<1 pk/wk) has never been shown to be a risk factor in lung cancer.

Certain types of pollution are more dangerous than second hand smoke.

Second hand smoke has never been shown to be a causative factor in lung cancer.

A WHO study did not show that passive (second hand) smoke statistically increased the risk of getting lung cancer.

No study has shown that second hand smoke exposure during childhood increases their risk of getting lung cancer.

In one study they couldn't even cause lung cancer in mice after exposing them to cigarette smoke for a long time.

If everyone in the world stopped smoking 50 years ago, the premature death rate would still be well over 80% of what it is today.1 (But I thought that smoking was the major cause of preventable death...hmmm.)

http://www.data-yard.net/10c/siepmann1.htm