Connections Between Pipe Tobacco and Elevated PSA

[greeneyes]

I imagine everyone just has the same access to the quick an dirty search on the topic. My suggestion would be to not focus on "Pipe smoking" or "cigarettes" but instead Nicotine's impact on PSA levels.

I was going to mention that nicotine itself doesn't cause cancer. It's purportedly the pyrolytic products of combustion of the various components in tobacco (nitrosamines) that does that. How that works is another more-involved matter, but in analogy it's like saying the caffeine in Coca-Cola (and not the sugar) is making you overweight.

For example, there are 46,675 studies in the National Library of Medicine that mention "Prostate Specific Antigen", and exactly FOUR that mention "Prostate Specific Antigen" AND "nicotine," and those four studies deal with prevalence of testing in people who vape and other unrelated things.

 

[Homer]

I am guessing that investigating correlation between prostate cancer and pipe smoking is not interesting and that kind of research is not going to be published.

 

[JOHN72]

Most doctors will always tell you to not use tobacco....period.
If you get a good one, they will shoot you straight.
My doctor loves booze, cigars, and guns.....and THATS why hes my doctor.
He's an everything in moderation kinda guy. Except sugar.....he really hates sugar.

As a good Catholic, I can guarantee that your doctor is a good doctor. God bless him. I pray for your doctor.

 

[fireground_piper]

I was going to mention that nicotine itself doesn't cause cancer. It's purportedly the pyrolytic products of combustion of the various components in tobacco (nitrosamines) that does that. How that works is another more-involved matter, but in analogy it's like saying the caffeine in Coca-Cola (and not the sugar) is making you overweight.

Sure, but it's all a bit of conjecture. In my opinion, nicotine is at least a specific and tangible drug from tobacco use that can impact the body in some form but not naturally found in every day life.

I have a hard time reading into too much studies that refer to tobacco smoke specifically as an evil if not compared to ALL type of smoke people encounter in their life. Byproducts of combustion are all not great to ingest for humans and studies that put a focus on it are less weighted for my interest. Is tobacco smoke worse that BBQ smoke? Wildland smoke? Smoke generated in a kitchen from oils and fats? I'd be interested in those comparisons if they exist, but tobacco smoke just by itself is pretty meh to me.

 

[greeneyes]

Sure, but it's all a bit of conjecture. In my opinion, nicotine is at least a specific and tangible drug from tobacco use that can impact the body in some form but not naturally found in every day life.

I have a hard time reading into too much studies that refer to tobacco smoke specifically as an evil if not compared to ALL type of smoke people encounter in their life. Byproducts of combustion are all not great to ingest for humans and studies that put a focus on it are less weighted for my interest. Is tobacco smoke worse that BBQ smoke? Wildland smoke? Smoke generated in a kitchen from oils and fats? I'd be interested in those comparisons if they exist, but tobacco smoke just by itself is pretty meh to me.

Right but nicotine patches and nicotine gum, for example, don't cause skin and mouth cancer.

I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of what kinds of smoke are more or less dangerous for health and why that might be. The OP wasn't asking and it's an invitation to derail the conversation and get the thread locked.

 

[fireground_piper]

Right but nicotine patches and nicotine gum, for example, don't cause skin and mouth cancer.

I don't want to go down the rabbit hole of what kinds of smoke are more or less dangerous for health and why that might be. The OP wasn't asking and it's an invitation to derail the conversation and get the thread locked.

Right, it's about PSA levels. I did not mention cancer in either of my posts.

 

[SteveP]

If prostate cancer is what you're interested in, based on this study there is no significantly increased risk. This is one meta study "Association between Cigar or Pipe Smoking and Cancer Risk in Men: A Pooled Analysis of Five Cohort Studies" of five fairly large cohorts [LINK].

View attachment 402302

Other studies suggest that PSA trends toward increasing, albeit not significantly, in cigarette smokers versus non-smokers; but there appears to be a significant increase in PSA in patients diagnosed with prostate cancer and who smoke cigarettes versus non-smokers. For prostate cancer in particular, I would guess the risk is particularly low compared to cigarette smoking.

"Overall, PSA sensitivity ranges from 9% to 33%, depending on age and the PSA cut-off values, indicating that up to 91% of individuals with elevated serum PSA levels do not have prostate cancer. In clinical practice, the actual risk of prostate cancer in men with an elevated PSA is roughly 30%." [LINK]

In the end, I would guess that the answers and the risks are something you ought to discuss with your healthcare provider, in careful consideration of your baseline PSA levels and health history, and, importantly, any relevant diagnoses you may have had.

Hugely helpful! Thanks!

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

So there is no information that anyone has about the OP's question, but there are plenty of snarky comments to be made while we wait to see if someone actually might have a direct reply to the above question. SNAFU.

Relax people. The OP is as asking for data, not medical advice or a prostate exam.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Relax people. The OP is as asking for data, not ... a prostate exam.

You mean the OP isn't asking me for a visit by Mr. Jelly Finger?

 

[SmokingInTheWind]

You mean the OP isn't asking me for a visit by Mr. Jelly Finger?

No, not in this post. Keep an eye on your PM box.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

No, not in this post. Keep an eye on your PM box.

Is that what they call it now, a PM box? In my day it was just called a sphincter or, more colloquially, The Barking Spider.

 

[greeneyes]

Relax people. The OP is as asking for data, not medical advice or a prostate exam.

"A second opinion can't hurt" doesn't apply here apparently.

 

[crazyhog]

Proper diet, exercise and yearly physicals makes a huge difference with overall health. This isn't mentioned enough.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

I've given this considerable thought and concluded I really enjoy pipe smoking and don't give a shit about PSA. I think people should be way more concerned about consuming processed foods and sugar, not enough exercise and being obese. The harm caused by a few bowls of tobacco each day pales in comparison.

 

[anotherbob]

Sure, but it's all a bit of conjecture. In my opinion, nicotine is at least a specific and tangible drug from tobacco use that can impact the body in some form but not naturally found in every day life.

I have a hard time reading into too much studies that refer to tobacco smoke specifically as an evil if not compared to ALL type of smoke people encounter in their life. Byproducts of combustion are all not great to ingest for humans and studies that put a focus on it are less weighted for my interest. Is tobacco smoke worse that BBQ smoke? Wildland smoke? Smoke generated in a kitchen from oils and fats? I'd be interested in those comparisons if they exist, but tobacco smoke just by itself is pretty meh to me.

Yeah it's different. For one less people are exposed to those smoke on a multiple times a day basis while also inhaling them intentionally (which makes a difference). Also all smokes not the same period. Particle sizes alone make a big big difference. What gases are present in the smoke makes a difference. But like I said the biggest difference is exposure. And with lungs and this is a super key point regular exposures versus occasional, effects things like the cilia in the bronchial tubings which effectively filters out lots of stuff including things that are constantly in our environment dusts, molds, microbes, and other tiny bastards. For example not a lot of people that hang around forest fires 20 times a day for decades.
Yeah none of that smoke is great but it's not the same thing period. Though the rare times I've had someone say something to me about second hand smoke I do love pointing out we're near a road way and I'd be way more concern with the exhaust from the vehicles which for one have way tinier particles then my pipe smoke.

 

[anotherbob]

Proper diet, exercise and yearly physicals makes a huge difference with overall health. This isn't mentioned enough.

one of my favorites is that not eating greens of the vegetable variety (don't eat green meats) regularly or not taking three walks of 45 minutes a day or comparable light exercise is literally as morbid and mortal (makes you as sick and dead) as smoking a pack a day. I like asking people who lecture me on the dangers of tobacco (which is annoying because if I don't know now, you aren't going to change my mind) to ask them if they eat enough veg and how many short walks they take a week.

 

[Choatecav]

Following on from my earlier comment, I have to say that getting cameras shoved in various orifices has resulted in my considering, quite seriously, the notion of intelligent design of our systems.

I was astonished by the prostate drill chuck chiefly because it had three components, besides brilliant design to solve routing and bladder protection in this hydraulic system. You don't expect to find three anything, frankly. But a colonoscopy did it again - the transverse colon, where the large bowel transits from right side to left, is triangular in cross-section. Some medics call it the "Toblerone". It will only bend in three directions, unlike round tube which bends in any. Given its location and the dynamic pressures above and beneath, isn't this a most elegant engineering solution to blockage prevention? And it has to have developed "all-of-a-piece"; by the time evolution could work, our prototype would be long gone and the line terminated by chronic blockage.

Stuff to think about.

Well, I'll never operate my power drill with the same mind-set again.

 

[SpuddsBuckley]

Exercise is for cowards.

 

[Lees65GTO]

My two cents. I was diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer in early 2005 and asked my oncologist if smoking and any impact on causing it. She told me smoking had never been linked to prostate cancer. Of course that was then.

 

[irishearl]

My two cents. I was diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer in early 2005 and asked my oncologist if smoking and any impact on causing it. She told me smoking had never been linked to prostate cancer. Of course that was then.

Probably still true. I've had an urologist following me for the past 4 years or so due to slowly increasing PSA levels. Gonna see him again next week and did a PSA this week with the level actually going down-I puff plenty. Thing to remember is the PSA naturally goes up with age but is not necessarily pathological.