Is it true?

[TigerLadyTX]

Yesterday I was at the hospital to have a procedure done which required me to be aneasthetized. After all of my prep stuff was done and I was wheeled into the OR, the anaestheseologist came in. He asked all of the usual questions that they ask prior to knocking you out. When he got to the "do you smoke?", I proudly told him NO. I told him that with the exception of one cigarette, I quit smoking on 3/4/12. He asked how long had I smoked and I told him 33 years...

His response was, "It does not matter now if you have quit - you smoked longer than 20 years. Quitting, for you makes no difference at all". I was absolutely stunned. I was certain that quitting, no matter how long one had smoked, supplied SOME sort of health benefits.

Before my stupefied brain could formulate some sort of a response, the surgeon came into the room and within seconds, it was olights out for me. I did not see the anaesologist again.

Today, I am still shocked and more than a bit shaken. Was that doctor right? Is it really too late for me? Does it make no difference for long term smokers when they stop smoking?

~Tiger

 

[sumoman25]

I'm not qualified to speak on this subject, but depending how old you are (above 60) it would likely not make much of a difference. If you have lung issues that have already developed, then it makes no difference. If your health isn't in too poor of shape at the moment, I think you would get better. Hopefully some better responses will clear it up

 

[36tinybells]

That anesthesiologist is a jerk and should be reported.

Found this on quitting smoking, don't think anything nic related counts, but everything regarding the cancer triggers and lung congestion should.

12 hours after quitting

The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

(US Surgeon General’s Report, 1988, p. 202)

2 weeks to 3 months after quitting

Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

(US Surgeon General’s Report, 1990, pp.193, 194,196, 285, 323)

1 to 9 months after quitting

Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) start to regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

(US Surgeon General’s Report, 1990, pp. 285-287, 304)
5 years after quitting

Risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, and bladder are cut in half. Cervical cancer risk falls to that of a non-smoker. Stroke risk can fall to that of a non-smoker after 2-5 years.

(A Report of the Surgeon General: How tobacco Smoke Causes Disease - The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease Fact Sheet, 2010; and tobacco Control: Reversal of Risk After Quitting Smoking. IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention, Vol. 11. 2007, p 341)

10 years after quitting

The risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking. The risk of cancer of the larynx (voice box) and pancreas decreases.

(A Report of the Surgeon General: How tobacco Smoke Causes Disease - The Biology and Behavioral Basis for Smoking-Attributable Disease Fact Sheet, 2010; and US Surgeon General’s Report, 1990, pp. vi, 155, 165)


After almost a year vaping, I know I can work out without getting out of breath and I didn't get my yearly case of 4 month long bronchitis this year for the first time in 5 yrs. The guy was an Azzhat. Vape on Tiger!

 

[redbucket]

You don't smoke every day for over 20 years, quit, and therefor have the health of a nonsmoker. Outside sinning in the Christian religion, the "oops my bad" excuse doesn't work. The medical professional's bedside manners suck, but you know you did terrible things to your lungs and body for a long time, so his comment doesn't really surprise you.

 

[mylose64]

maybe he thought you wouldn't wake up from the anesthesia?

 

[CheekyMonkey]

While you might not get the full benefit you would have from quitting smoking earlier, you still experience lots of benefits from quitting - see the post by 36tinybells. There is still a chance that you have irreparable damage, you have an increased mortality risk due to smoking for 33 years, but the anesthesiologist was a jerk with a crummy beside manner. To discourage anyone from quitting smoking is a bad move. I would discuss with your surgeon at the follow up, and strongly consider reporting him to the hospital.

 

[Strigoi]

and I didn't get my yearly case of 4 month long bronchitis this year for the first time in 5 yrs. !

When I smoked I would get bronchitis that lasted for months every time I got sick (I never went to the doctor for it). The last time I got sick I did not get bronchitis and I vaped the whole time I was sick. That there is enough to prove to me that vaping is better than smoking and there are health benefits to it.

 

[Myk]

Perhaps the anesthesiologist was only referring to as far as his job is concerned. I don't know, I'm not an anesthesiologist.

But I know after 2 weeks of not smoking for vaping my heart rate had gone from 70-80 at rest to 60-70 at rest (note that this is with using nicotine which increases heart rate). I haven't seen 60bpm since shortly after college when I was active in karate.
I'm also starting to breath easier.

I'd say there's some difference.

 

[Dana A]

When I told my Dr that I had been smoking for 19 yrs he said that if I quit now my lungs and the rest of my body could still heal all of the way but that studies have shown that after 20 years some of the damage couldn't be healed. He was very nice about this and also said that no matter how long I smoked that if or when I quit my body could still heal a lot even after 20 yrs. He asked me why I smoked and I told him that cigs were the only thing in the world that were just mine and I loved them and so I didn't plan to ever stop. He thanked for being honest and said most patients just say they can't quit. He also has told me 3 years in a row when I was in with pnemonia or bronchitis that I have asthma that was induced by my smoking and I thought ya whatever cause no one in my family has asthma but now I am 2 and a half months smoke free and still weezing and coughing up some phlem. I am starting to think he was right about the asthma.

 

[erictho]

health problems may develop over time as a result of our actions (especially long term chronic decisions). there are many added health benefits to not smoking, which do effect you in the short and long term.
as i'm sure many people may be able to provide anecdotes, my grandpa had smoked at a very young age, very heavily, until he was well over middle aged. he suffered from lung cancer. he had quit for at least 20 years before his diagnosis. my granny had started smoking at a very young age as well, and had been a pretty heavy smoker. she had slowed down to about a pack a day in her later years, but she also suffered from lung cancer.
i'm willing to bet that the "quit or die" mentality also carries with it a "sentence" passed to smokers, especially in the long term. you will always reap the benefits of not smoking, but that's not to say irreparable damage agitated with age may never be an issue for you.
personally, i feel as if it were rude and insensitive for a professional to speak to you in that way. he should be encouraging people changing their lifestyles in order to benefit to their health. it's pretty sad he was so condemning.

 

[Bullwinkle]

First of all, remember who is paying the bills. The doc works for you, not the other way around.

Having an M.D. degree does not make one omniscient or in any way godlike. M.D.s are just people and there are plenty of bad ones to go with the good. There are plenty of really, really, dumb doctors. Also unethical, immoral, and downright evil ones.

If your landscaper gave you lip like that would you continue to employ him? Probably not. Same with doctors. Except an anesthesiologist has your life in his hands.

Medicine is such a large field that specialists know about their specialty mostly and generalists know how to prescribe naproxin and penicillin. Was your anesthesiologist also an oncologist or pulmonologist? I doubt it. He was just talking out of his .... and forgetting where his paycheck comes from.

Was he a foreign doctor? There are some good ones, but when I can only understand one word in three it's a deal breaker. I won't go into it here, but some of those doctors are still working off medical information from the Victorian age.

M.D. does not warrant a pedestal. They are just people, and people are just a smart breed of killer apes.

 

[Ember]

Old joke in the nursing field:

Q: what do you call a physician who graduated at the bottom of his class from the worst ranked med school in the world?

A: Doctor.

 

[Spazmelda]

His response was, "It does not matter now if you have quit - you smoked longer than 20 years. Quitting, for you makes no difference at all". I was absolutely stunned. I was certain that quitting, no matter how long one had smoked, supplied SOME sort of health benefits.
~Tiger

I think it was absolutely irresponsible and inaccurate for him to say that and you should probably complain about it. He does not need to be saying that to patients. What if he said that to someone who was contemplating quitting and made them think, "oh well, why bother then?"

I found this link with some information: YourLungHealth.org - Stop Smoking

If you google "too late to quit smoking?". You will get lots of hits some of them with more information as to what exactly the benefits are than others.

 

[tinajfreeman]

That was a horrible, irresponsible thing to say and completely false. As has been said, he may discourage someone from quitting who could, at the time of a health crisis, finally "get serious" and do it.

There are almost ALWAYS health benefits to quitting, even if you smoked 30+ years. Are you going to magically go back to the pristine pink lungs and blood vessels of a newborn baby? Heck no! Some damage has been done that is irreversible. But some of the damage CAN heal, AND you can keep existing damage from getting worse.

Most of us that smoked for a long time, and have now vaped for a while, can testify that we ARE feeling HEALTHIER. A lot of us can do things we couldn't do before. Our lung function has improved. Coughs and wheezes go away or get much less bothersome.

He was not just a jerk, a stupid jerk and what he said was akin to malpractice it was so irresponsible. I think you should complain to the hospital. His boss needs to pull him aside and reign him in. Everybody, even anesthesiologists, are accountable.

 

[VaporPhreak]

That anesthesiologist needs a boot to head! People shouldnt make stupid comments like that, especially doctors. Here is the thing, you smoked for 33 years which means the damage done to your lungs, throat, etc. are more likely to be more severe than soemone who smoked for 1 year. As for it being "too late" and "making no differnece" thats a crock of poo! It will ALWAYS make a difference. I cannot say whether there is something specifically in the field of anesthesiology that has some abstract 20 year threshold for how much "night-night juice" they can give you, but even if there is he should have explained that or just kept his mouth shut! The hubris that doctor showed in that one comment alone shows he should no longer be practiciing medicine.

 

[Randyrtx]

Seriously, you should report him to the hospital's review board and your doctor. Even it if were true, saying something like that to a patient who is about to be anesthetized is inappropriate to say the least.

 

[Mookie]

Another old nursing joke:

Q. How is God different than a surgeon?
A. God doesn't think he's is a surgeon.

What that doctor said to you was just terrible but unfortunately not uncommon. Many think very highly of themselves and have poor social skills. Especially anesthesiologists and surgeons. Is there also the remote possibility due to being drugged this was actually your subconscious talking? The good part is that information is not true.

Years ago I had a neighbor who was a very highly respected pulmonologist. I can't remember exactly what he said be he told me that quitting by the age of 40 made a huge difference. I think it was something about the age of 40 and the amount of time for healing and cell growth. He also said that after the age of 40 the risk of COPD and cancer increase more rapidly with every year. I was only in my early 30's and figured I would quit at 40. I'll be 50 in a couple months and I finally quit 5 months ago.

We all know we have done irrepairable damage but quitting at any age is beneficial. Check out the link Spazmelda sited above. And here are a couple other good ones:

Harms of Smoking and Health Benefits of Quitting - National Cancer Institute

Especially note #9:
What are the long-term benefits of quitting smoking?

Quitting smoking reduces the risk of cancer and other diseases, such as heart disease and COPD, caused by smoking.

People who quit smoking, regardless of their age, are less likely than those who continue to smoke to die from smoking-related illness:

Quitting at age 30: Studies have shown that smokers who quit at about age 30 reduce their chance of dying prematurely from smoking-related diseases by more than 90 percent (18, 19).

Quitting at age 50: People who quit at about age 50 reduce their risk of dying prematurely by 50 percent compared with those who continue to smoke (19).

Quitting at age 60: Even people who quit at about age 60 or older live longer than those who continue to smoke

And this one has a great graph to help visualize the benefits/dangers with age (I think this is what my old neighbor was explaining to me):


How Quitting Smoking Can Slow Down COPD - COPD - Health.com

 

[luvinit]

I work in the medical field and NEVER have I heard a doctor say something to discourage someone from quitting smoking. That guy is an a**. Yes, there may be permanent damage but you just can't tell me that quitting at ANY stage makes no difference. What a stupid, insensitive thing to say.. makes me furious!!

 

[nansc]

That is total bull,I smoked for over 50 years and it certainly helped me.Was there lung damage done ,yeah but it certainly helped me.My doc said it will stop any more damage and I can breathe bettter.Don't let these kind of things upset you.There are a-holes in every profession.Sorry but these kind of people upset me.

 

[Tiny]

If giving up smoking didn't matter for someone who smoked for over 20 years then why would my Doctor encourage me to quit after doing it for 40 years?

I have no illusions about reversing the damage that I've done already, but as some have said some of it is reversable and some isn't. I will always be higher risk for cancer and COPD than someone my age that hasn't smoked, but by quitting my chance avoiding those problems improve.

If my 40 years of smoking eventually does me in, at least I'll live out my remaining time enjoying life more because I won't be wheezing, hacking up lungs full of crap, and being a slave to cigarettes.