Curative Properties of the Pipe

[collindow]

How many of you guys have stories of the pipe helping you to get over sickness and other varied ailments of the mind and body? I've had colds cured and allergies crushed, and now the pipe is removing a migraine headache better than any medicine I've ever tried.

Any other miraculous stories that the mainstream media would surely disbelieve, and would make anti-smoking Nazis reach for lying statistics?

 

[olderthandirt]

The pipe not so much.

Snuff on the other hand, well, my annual bouts with sinus infections pretty much ceased after taking up snuff.

Some may argue it has to do with blowing the schnoz more often but I believe it's the direct placement of nicotine killing off the bugs afore they get a hold!

 

[spartan]

If your headache is due to a hangover... I think it's best to stay far away from a pipe. The nic makes your blood pressure go up a bit causing your head to throb with more gusto.

 

[philip]

My pipes cure the common cold. Trouble is that I have to smoke them for a week for them to work.... chocolate works, too.

 

[collindow]

I don't get hangovers, so that isn't a problem for me. I occasionally get terrible migraines, though, that blind me and tend to hurt for 24-36 hours after the initial symptoms pop up. The only thing that would help at all was caffeine, before, but now I can add the pipe to that short list of cures.

 

[buster]

Wonder how that works Collin? Because caffeine is a vasodilator, or opens veins. While Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor and restricts blood flow. My wives grand mother smoked from 13 to the day she died at 95. She said,"it keeps my mind sharp" I just found this from an internet search. I guess Popo was on to some thing? :D
Nicotine mimics the actions of acetylcholine and has been shown to effect many other neurotransmitters. There has been considerable research into the role of nicotine receptors in the central nervous system in human cognitive functioning. The research has revealed an important connection to nicotine and increased brain function. Most medical researchers will not want us to know this obscure fact. Such an example of how tobacco might just help us is to look at Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer’s is characterized by a loss of cholinergic neurons in the basal forebrain with an associated loss of nicotinic receptors. This group of cells is critical both for the regulation of cerebral blood flow and cognitive performance.
http://cigars.about.com/od/legalhealthissues/a/cigarmedicine.htm

 

[gecko13]

I have noticed that a good dose of latakia does well to clear up my sinuses and allergies when they are bothering me. Smoking a good blend also quiets the arguing voices in my head. ::

 

[scotrob]

i suffer from acid stomach, some reflux etc. and i find that smoking (due to its calming effects I guess) really help with this....almost as effective as the omeprazole which I have taken in the past in fact

 

[dylan793]

Getting over a cold right now actually. I found that the pipe smoke releived/numbed my sore throat and dried up my sinuses a bit. Can you prove it to be curative in a lab? I dunno. Don't care. It just plain works 8)

 

[cyndi]

This is something I'm very interested in. I have Lupus and MVP w/ dysautonomia and since I picked up the pipe, my symptoms have greatly decreased, I've been able to cut my prescription meds in half. I have not been hospitalized at all this year and the one infection I did get was cleared up with only amoxicillan. Normally infections take cefdnir and a 10 day course of steroids. Anecdotally, I have read that every culture from the Chinese, to the Europeans, to Native Americans and Creole have used tobacco as a medication. We still find it in our culture as a remedy for bee stings (in a poultice), allergies, and chronic diseases. When my granny was a little girl, she was sick constantly (from what I believe was an undiagnosed auto-immune disease) her uncle gave her snuff at 8 years old and she used it every day until her death at 88. I just read an article today that said fibromyalgia and CFS may actually be auto-immune as well. I know quite a few auto-immune patients that use tobacco and find relief in it - from IBS to RDS, it seems to work.
I plan to research the historical and cultural uses of it throughout history and write a series of essays on it with sources. It should be interesting!

 

[scotrob]

i would definitely be interested to read your research here Cyndi. I believe the Native Americans actually had a number of plants which they smoked either with or instead of regular tobacco, including one which was a species of Lobelia and used for respiratory complaints...I think it a GREAT shame that the negativity surrounding the health risks associated with tobacco use has more than likely masked some possible health BENEFITS and it would be good to see someone try to uncover some of these benefits

 

[cyndi]

Sweet! If you come across any sources, please send them my way! I'm a huge bibliophile.

 

[schmitzbitz]

Pipe-tobacco smoke does wonders keeping my seasonal allergies in check - well, not so much the actual allergies as some of the symptoms...namely the faucet for a nose. It seems within half-a-dozen puffs, all but a veritable waterfall has cleared up.
More importantly though, a big bowl of good tobacco will ALWAYS cure me of the occasional "pissed off at the world" state. Funny how trivial ones problems become when pondered over a well stoked pipe.

 

[buster]

Cyndi , I fund this link that talks about medicines made from tobacco for autoimmune disorders. Funny how we never hear of positive effects of tobacco.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090318211236.htm
Collin I also found that homeopathic medicine uses tobacum to treat head aches.
http://www.herbs2000.com/homeopathy/tabacum.htm

 

[markw4mms]

Very interesting.. thanks for posting the links,Buster.

 

[baronsamedi]

I'm definitely going to give that a try next time I get a migrane. I get them rarely, but when I do It usually comes down to taking enough drugs to knock me out, which can be difficult when you feel like pukin' your guts up. Plus I have an insane chemical tolerance. I'd be like freakin Rasputin if someone ever tried to poison me. It usually goes: take drugs-no effect, take more drugs-no effect, take enough drugs to kill a small town- ZZZZZZZZZ.

 

[matchstickman]

I had the worst chest/head cold this past winter. I was sick for two straight months. This was before I picked up pipe smoking again. I wish I would have smoked a pipe during this time to see if it would have helped any. I suffer from seasonal allergies and dont really notice whether it helps or hurts, either way. I do take blood pressure meds, though, and I find myself wondering every once in a while if the pipe affects it one way or the other. I realize that nicotine raises blood pressure, but in my case, I dont think it does so to the extent that I really notice it. I dont smoke very much either, though, so that may play a part in the grand scheme of things.

 

[robs]

I have no means of proving any of this, but, I will tell you that it is a fact that whilst I am smoking a pipe, I do not suffer with any Phantom Pain. I am a Bi Lateral below knee amputee, and have had occasional bouts of PP since the last amputation. They were violent enough that I sought medical advice and was prescribed a drug which would help.

The bouts of PP only occur towards the end of the day and as I am invariably either sitting watching TV, or reading etc at that time, I have now discovered that provided I am actually smoking, I no longer have any of these unpleasant sensations. Admittedly, I do still take the medication as it stops me being awoken by the occasional burts of pain, but there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind, that smoking has eased things very considerably.

 

[yuri66]

Speaking of the Native Americans of our great land, Why do you think it was called a peace pipe, when warring tribes sat down at the peace "table" tipi, lodge etc. they smoked a pipe, it is a calming effect it takes some of the tension out of the talks about to happen.

While in combat there was no greater relief for me than to come off patrol and sit down in my little "tipi" and light up a good bowl of bacci, it relaxed me and helped me deal with the stress of daily operations, I took and still do, every oppertunity to relax with a good pipe, even though the stress I deal with now a days is the stress of sitting in the office and dealing with all the BS that admin weenies deal with, but the relaxing effect is the same. So yes smoking does relax and take the tension off the day, so no matter what medical folks say, there is something to the lore that tobacco can be seen as a health enhancer (for lack of a better word)

Well there you have it, my half of cent of knowledge. :puffpipe:
Yuri

 

[maduroman]

i am dealing with a true shit sandwich health-wise and my pipes help me deal with the pain and other symptoms...
and no, it is not a placibo effect because tobacco works... and pot don't.