found this little gem on my AOL news popup

[sqirl1]

10 Dumb Ideas About Smoking Cigarettes - Stop Smoking Center - Everyday Health

looks like you can't even comment on this, unless you have to register to even see the comments.... cowards. looks like people are just going to mindlessly lump PV's like they're the exact same thing as cigarettes from now on.

 

[Vocalek]

Oh, and I liked this one, too:


'I'm Too Old to Quit'

If you think you have smoked for too long to get any benefits from quitting, think again. Just one year after quitting smoking, you reduce your risk of heart disease from smoking by half. And there are benefits to quitting at any age. Here are more smoking facts to consider: "Quitting smoking adds years to your life and the sooner you quit the better,” says Conway. A 35 to 39 year-old can add between three to five years to their life expectancy, and a 65 year old can add an additional year. Statistics show that even at age 69 you can extend your life by quitting smoking.

Just what will that bonus year feel like? If that additional year is anything like the 6 months that I went through without nicotine back in the early 1990s, just shoot me, please. Now.

As a result of that experience, I know what it feels like to have dementia. It is not pretty. You feel stupid and confused and forgetful and can't do anything right. You feel worthless and hopeless.

Now mind you, this doesn't happen to everyone. Only about 40% of us. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9604553

And if you stick with abstinence, no matter what the cost, and have quit smoking for at least a year, you don't even get a nice quick heart attack to buy your way out of the misery.

 

[emus]

Do these type of statistics really motivate people to quit?

"A 35 to 39 year-old can add between three to five years to their life expectancy, and a 65 year old can add an additional year. Statistics show that even at age 69 you can extend your life by quitting smoking."

If I was 65 I wouldn't quit for one lousy year.

3 to 5 years for a 35 year old isn't much better.

I've seen similar statistics before and wonder why people even bother to quit; of course an O2 bottle is not the hippest fashion statement.

 

[Vocalek]

Do these type of statistics really motivate people to quit?

"A 35 to 39 year-old can add between three to five years to their life expectancy, and a 65 year old can add an additional year. Statistics show that even at age 69 you can extend your life by quitting smoking."

If I was 65 I wouldn't quit for one lousy year.

3 to 5 years for a 35 year old isn't much better.

I've seen similar statistics before and wonder why people even bother to quit; of course an O2 bottle is not the hippest fashion statement.

You're right, of course. Statistics like that don't do a thring for us.

I was motivated to quit because of the health effects that I was feeling...shortness of breath, morning cough, being kept awake at night by wheezing. And I was "old" for such a quit: 63. I don't think my lungs will ever be what they were, but they have improved quite a bit during the 2 + years that I haven't been sucking in smoke.

Other motivators included, "Grandma, you smell funny" and the shrinking number of places where smoking is permitted. I did not appreciate having to go outside into the freezing cold in the dark of night in an unfamiliar neighborhood because my hotel didn't want me to smoke in my room. I wonder if I could have sued the hotel had I been mugged in their parking lot...or would the entire thing have been, of course, my own damn fault as far as the rest of the world was concerned.

 

[Crumpet]

Good points, Elaine. All this hooplah about 'living longer' should really take quality of life into consideration. If I'm going to get an extra 10 years of traveling and socializing then it sounds like a good idea. If all I get is an extra 10 years strapped to a hospital bed sucking peas through a straw, then not so much. For the vast majority of people, the last years of life when they are very old aren't exactly a pleasure. They are filled with loss of vision, hearing, mobility, independence, money.....you name it. Add in baseline chronic pain and you have a more realistic picture. Most folks that are 96 years old are more than ready to sign out and pass on any more 'longevity'.

 

[sqirl1]

Good points, Elaine. All this hooplah about 'living longer' should really take quality of life into consideration. If I'm going to get an extra 10 years of traveling and socializing then it sounds like a good idea. If all I get is an extra 10 years strapped to a hospital bed sucking peas through a straw, then not so much. For the vast majority of people, the last years of life when they are very old aren't exactly a pleasure. They are filled with loss of vision, hearing, mobility, independence, money.....you name it. Add in baseline chronic pain and you have a more realistic picture. Most folks that are 96 years old are more than ready to sign out and pass on any more 'longevity'.

my grandma lived to be 94 and she shoveled her own driveway up until she was 88, and 2 weeks before she died she asked my mom to hold a ladder for her while she nailed something. no dementia, no Alzheimer's, minimal vision and hearing loss. Only notable health problems she had were a pacemaker which she didn't get until she was like 89 or 90, and she had really fragile bones and looked kind of hunched over the older she got. oh, and guess what? SHE SMOKED UNTIL THE DAY SHE DIED! she bought Salems by the carton and went through about a pack a day. supposedly she didn't inhale and smoked them like a cigar but STILL....

 

[Crumpet]

my grandma lived to be 94 and she shoveled her own driveway up until she was 88, and 2 weeks before she died she asked my mom to hold a ladder for her while she nailed something. no dementia, no Alzheimer's, minimal vision and hearing loss. Only notable health problems she had were a pacemaker which she didn't get until she was like 89 or 90, and she had really fragile bones and looked kind of hunched over the older she got. oh, and guess what? SHE SMOKED UNTIL THE DAY SHE DIED! she bought Salems by the carton and went through about a pack a day. supposedly she didn't inhale and smoked them like a cigar but STILL....

I love to hear stories like yours, and I've been lucky enough to encounter many active elderly seniors. It's just that it still isn't the norm for most folks who live to be very old, many of them living due to interventions by modern medicine that keep them alive but do not help them thrive. Likewise, most lifelong smokers don't make to a very old age without any breathing or cardiac impairment. I'm thrilled for the ones that do, but I work with older adults and see too many people just miserably hanging on day after day, lying in bed looking at the same 4 walls. I am optimistic that more of us will maintain better health as we age and that we'll be better able to enjoy life throughout all stages. I also realize that a stark miniroty of seniors actually live in nursing homes or assisted living (less than 10%), but even in the best of circumstances it's never looked like a picnic to me.

 

[Anima]

Good points, Elaine. All this hooplah about 'living longer' should really take quality of life into consideration...

When I smoked and people would say that I was taking years off my life, I would always reply, "Yeah. The last years. The ones nobody wants." Go to a nursing home sometime and see if you want those last 3-5 years. True, there are 90-year-olds who have decent quality of life, but they are the exception. My grandmother's peers will often casually mention that they pray for death.

I do recognize that the ways these statistics are used is misleading, as you might get lung cancer at 60 or expire happily at 90, so I quit smoking analogs, but perhaps those who misuse the stats need to think about how unconvincingly they are misusing them.

 

[emus]

...perhaps those who misuse the stats need to think about how unconvincingly they are misusing them.

I like that part.

 

[ByStander1]

One stat that always stuck with me:

The time it took to smoke one cigarette = the time taken off of my life. I often thought of that one... as I lit my next cig.

I also often wondered, "Is this the magic cigarette?" (the one that would ignite cancer in me)... as I lit my next cig.

I stopped "enjoying" smoking years ago. I absolutely Hated cigarettes for +20yrs. But after a "quitting" episode similar to Elaine's, I conceded defeat. Ultimately, I came to the point of: I'd rather get out of bed to have a cigarette than not want to get out of bed at all.

I am grateful every moment for my son caring enough to investigate ecigs. He cared when I no longer did. (he's amazing -- yeah, I'm proud... I made him )

My PV is My Freedom!

 

[rothenbj]

Good points, Elaine. All this hooplah about 'living longer' should really take quality of life into consideration. If I'm going to get an extra 10 years of traveling and socializing then it sounds like a good idea. If all I get is an extra 10 years strapped to a hospital bed sucking peas through a straw, then not so much. For the vast majority of people, the last years of life when they are very old aren't exactly a pleasure. They are filled with loss of vision, hearing, mobility, independence, money.....you name it. Add in baseline chronic pain and you have a more realistic picture. Most folks that are 96 years old are more than ready to sign out and pass on any more 'longevity'.

In my mom's case that number is 92. I get tired of stopping in every day or two to the tune of "Why can't I die? I'm tired of this". She still lives by herself and will have it no other way. Just waiting for her time. She gives me more reason for re-picking up the habit just on the fear that I could be there someday.

 

[rothenbj]

ByStander, therein lies the beauty of PVs and other smokeless alternatives. For the most part, they are truly the products created for the long term, inveterate smoker. How many kids are interested in PVs, snus, disolvables? Not many. Most want the stuff that says up yours to adults. In the smokeless world they want chew, something that you can spit, be a BA.

For younger adults they either eventually quit or don't want to be bothered with all the work involved with PVs and many have been brainwashed about the false dangers of most smokeless products.

It's you and I and what I believe to be the vast majority of smokers who have tried and tried again, using all those expensive, ineffective quit smoking products and services that this market was built for. PVs got me 90% of the way from way too many cigarettes a day to being a non-smoker. Swedish snus took me the rest of the way.

Recently I've had my PV interest awakened by E liquid with WTAs added. What was missing from traditional liquid seems to be there with the WTAs. It must be really worrisome for the antis to think we may finally find our own way out.

 

[ByStander1]

Absolutely, rothenbj!!!

and... WTA's?

 

[rothenbj]

Absolutely, rothenbj!!!

and... WTA's?

Yes WTAs (whole tobacco alkaloids-nicotine plus those other alkaloids that seem to please some of us, for those that aren't familiar with the term).

 

[izabella]

"Your metabolism does slow down for a while after quitting, but you can balance that by choosing exercise or a long walk to combat those nicotine cravings instead of an unhealthy snack," advises Conway.

I don't know whether to laugh or smash things. Do the people who write this stuff have any actual experience with smoking?

No, a long walk is NOT useful for combating "those nicotine cravings". If it were, people wouldn't be killing themselves with Chantix.

 

[DC2]

WTA's?

Might want to check this out...
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/blogs/dvap/642-madame-psychosis-summary-pt-1.html

 

[rothenbj]

Hey DC, thanks for the link. I had never seen that before. Much of it correlated to my personal thoughts.

 

[Anima]

No, a long walk is NOT useful for combating "those nicotine cravings". If it were, people wouldn't be killing themselves with Chantix.

Come on, aren't smokers known for their love of aerobic activity? Nothing like a smoke break on a long bike ride or a Marlboro in the middle of a 5K. How about post-coital jumping jacks instead of a smoke?

 

[rothenbj]

Come on, aren't smokers known for their love of aerobic activity? Nothing like a smoke break on a long bike ride or a Marlboro in the middle of a 5K. How about post-coital jumping jacks instead of a smoke?

Hey, As a 2-3 pack a dayer, I did a century ride a few years back (over 10 now), smoking all the way. However, I think I kept it to about a cigarette every 5 miles or so as I recall. At least the pack still had a few left.

 

[kristin]

Do these type of statistics really motivate people to quit?

It's that assumption by public health and the ANTZ that all smokers hate smoking and want to quit, so since they don't really enjoy or need smoking they'd be motivated by an additional 3-5 years free of nicotine. I just saw it in another article today: "Most smokers want to quit...."

Who says?

I can agree with "Most smokers don't want to get cancer or die early from a smoking-related illness" or "Most smokers don't want to be stuck outside in the cold" or "Most smokers don't want to keep paying more and more for cigarettes because of taxes" (or pay higher insurance premiums) or "Most smokers don't want to lose or be denied employment because they smoke" but do MOST smokers really hate smoking and WANT to quit or do MOST just feel pressured to quit by all of these other factors?

I enjoyed smoking. Heck, I'd go out to the bar just so I could smoke more! (Not anymore in Wisconsin, lol). I didn't enjoy how it made me feel or the worry about my health or how much it cost, but I did enjoy the act of smoking itself (meaning, it made me feel good, so you could probably interchange "enjoy" with "want" or "need"), which is why I took to e-cigarettes like a duck in water.

I know I have to lose weight and it's not good for my health to be overweight, but would an extra 3-5 years motivate me to give up my favorite fatty foods that I enjoy but have no nutritional value? Not likely. I'd rather fully enjoy 80 years than spend 83-85 years feeling like I sacrificed. Luckily, e-cigarettes were invented and now I can literally have my cake and eat it too!