Lifespan of Pipe Smokers
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Oops pressed send….53 years old— More anecdotes. I’ve been pipe smoking (moderately/sparingly) for about 30 years (after having stopped smoking cigarettes after 8). I’ve been pretty honest with my lifelong GP (who recently retired at 77 years old). I went to him because he was not an alarmist; I think he was libertarian. When I was about 30 he shared with me that he had been a passionate pipesmoker for many years. All through med school he would fervently smoke during his commute to and from NYC “reserving part of each weekend to clean all of the pipes he smoked all week long”. He said he’d still have been smoking if it hadn’t been for some pre-cancerous lesions he acquired on his tongue at one point that scared him to quit. Nothing ever came of them, though. He also would take care to warn me of possible sudden heart issues that could potentially occur. He (and I) both still have solid health, thank God.
I've been smoking a pipe for 56 yrs and have COPD. The COPD was caused by my heavy cigarette smoking during that time, according to my doctor. I've never inhaled the pipe since I started smoking one. I got into pipe smoking to cut down on the cigarettes, but early on it didn't work. It wasn't until I retired in 2009 , when I was diagnosed with COPD, that I switched to mostly smoking a pipe. Now I only have a cigarette after a meal. So far as my Lifespan, I'm 76 yrs old and the doctor says he'd bet I'd live well into my 90's if I smoked only a pipe. Check back in 20 yrs and we'll see if the doctor wins the bet.
I remember in the 1980s, reading a US surgeon general's report, (from 1969?) that said pipe smokers on the average live 3 years longer than non-smokers. A later US surgeon general's report said that the life expectancy of cigar smokers was the same as non-smokers. I don't remember what year that was, but I believe C. Everett Coop was the Surgeon General then.
I had a number of Orthopedic surgeries at the VA hospital in Portland Oregon in the 1980s. In that time frame they still had smoking and non-smoking wards. I was laying in bed smoking my pipe when the nurse came along to take my blood pressure. She commented that she thought it would be high because I was smoking and was very surprised when it was not. She watched it after that and my blood pressure was higher if I was not smoking then when I was smoking.
To me, pipe smoking is very relaxing, and I think that lowers my blood pressure.
I smoked a pipe from about 1971 until around 2000 or 2001. I just started smoking my pipes again in January this year, at my wife suggestion, to deal with the stress involved in being her caregiver as she is fighting cancer.
I do have a number of health issues, most of which I believe are related to serving in Vietnam and being exposed to Agent Orange, and who knows what else. I have a 100% service connected disability rating from the VA that tends to back up my belief.
I had a number of Orthopedic surgeries at the VA hospital in Portland Oregon in the 1980s. In that time frame they still had smoking and non-smoking wards. I was laying in bed smoking my pipe when the nurse came along to take my blood pressure. She commented that she thought it would be high because I was smoking and was very surprised when it was not. She watched it after that and my blood pressure was higher if I was not smoking then when I was smoking.
To me, pipe smoking is very relaxing, and I think that lowers my blood pressure.
I smoked a pipe from about 1971 until around 2000 or 2001. I just started smoking my pipes again in January this year, at my wife suggestion, to deal with the stress involved in being her caregiver as she is fighting cancer.
I do have a number of health issues, most of which I believe are related to serving in Vietnam and being exposed to Agent Orange, and who knows what else. I have a 100% service connected disability rating from the VA that tends to back up my belief.
I wish your wife and yourself the best. Sorry you are going through this. Let the pipe be some solace to you. Smoke on my friend...
Yes, I hope that your wife does well and thank you for your service. (I have a close friend who had the same type of exposure and diagnosis as you.) I’m sorry; glad the pipe tobacco can be a positive for you.
In 1976 I started smoking pipe. It has always been an intense pleasure. The smoking of pipes has been something I would not have wanted to miss for the world. To drink my coffe, read my book, muse a little and smoke my pipe is pure bliss.
Now, at 65, my only health issue is that I'm allergic to cat's hair. Had that before 1976 though.
From The Netherlands I wish you peace and happiness.
Now, at 65, my only health issue is that I'm allergic to cat's hair. Had that before 1976 though.
From The Netherlands I wish you peace and happiness.
I am 34, been smoking tobacco since 16. I drink mountain dew and coffee, not nearly enough water. My main meals are cheeseburgers and chocolate.
Great blood pressure, perfect oxygen levels, heart rate is spot on. I do go to the doctor regularly for random things, my back, etc. but I'm healthy as ever.
My grandpa smoked a pipe and cigars for I believe 30 some years before he quit. Never smoked a cigarette in his life. He's going to be 101 years old this year.
I've read in a few places, probably not scientifically documented legally places, but pipe smokers live longer than non smokers, due to stress levels down. Again idk where the information comes from, but so far, it sounds accurate!
Great blood pressure, perfect oxygen levels, heart rate is spot on. I do go to the doctor regularly for random things, my back, etc. but I'm healthy as ever.
My grandpa smoked a pipe and cigars for I believe 30 some years before he quit. Never smoked a cigarette in his life. He's going to be 101 years old this year.
I've read in a few places, probably not scientifically documented legally places, but pipe smokers live longer than non smokers, due to stress levels down. Again idk where the information comes from, but so far, it sounds accurate!
Is this the same study (1964 because that's the last year they could find a large number of pipe smokers to survey) that showed on average pipe smokers lived 2 years longer than non-smokers?
My guess is that pipe smokers are typically more educated and maybe more affluent both of which positively correlate to longevity.
Never smoked cigarettes. Tried them briefly as a teen because I thought it made me look cool, but I didn't stick with it because they didn't last long enough to make it worthwhile. Probably didn't consume more than more full pack before giving it up and have never had another cigarette since.
Have gone through periods over the years where I would smoke cigars, but it's been years since I've had one.
Tried pipe smoking briefly in my 30s but didn't stick with it. Kept the pipes, though, and pulled them back out a couple of years ago around the time I turned 65, deciding I'm give it another try. I've been smoking them for the two years since, but only sparingly -- maybe a couple of times a week. And even then, it's just during cold weather months. I don't know why, but pipe smoking just always felt like more a cold weather activity to me; I have no desire to light up in the summer.
So, to sum up, given my age and how sparingly I have smoked over the years and now (not to mention that there isn't much family history of cancer), I'm not concerned about any possible long-term health ramifications. At my age, "long-term" doesn't mean what it once did. I enjoy it enough that the pleasure offsets the potential risks, given that I'll probably be dead of something else before an occasional pipe would kill me anyway.
If I were 30 and had a pipe in my mouth all day every day, I'd probably think twice about it. You might be OK anyway, but I don't know that I'd risk it. Each to his own, though. You just have to weigh everything and decide what's acceptable to you.
Have gone through periods over the years where I would smoke cigars, but it's been years since I've had one.
Tried pipe smoking briefly in my 30s but didn't stick with it. Kept the pipes, though, and pulled them back out a couple of years ago around the time I turned 65, deciding I'm give it another try. I've been smoking them for the two years since, but only sparingly -- maybe a couple of times a week. And even then, it's just during cold weather months. I don't know why, but pipe smoking just always felt like more a cold weather activity to me; I have no desire to light up in the summer.
So, to sum up, given my age and how sparingly I have smoked over the years and now (not to mention that there isn't much family history of cancer), I'm not concerned about any possible long-term health ramifications. At my age, "long-term" doesn't mean what it once did. I enjoy it enough that the pleasure offsets the potential risks, given that I'll probably be dead of something else before an occasional pipe would kill me anyway.
If I were 30 and had a pipe in my mouth all day every day, I'd probably think twice about it. You might be OK anyway, but I don't know that I'd risk it. Each to his own, though. You just have to weigh everything and decide what's acceptable to you.
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not sure if I already said this since it's an older post. What I found looking at medical reports is that people lie about how much they smoke and doctors have a way of saying if they believe them or not.
There are so many reports that have a statement like "patient claims they smoke four cigarettes a day" and when the doctor believes them it reads "patient smokes three packs of cigarettes a day". But there are way more of the former. I've known only a few people that smoke less then a pack a day and yet almost every medical social history states that almost no smokers smoke a pack a day even.
Definitely longer than chopper pilots from Vietnam war. And I don't think dead pipe smokers will come back just for this post to say "I'm dead".
Lady in the street said "oooooh Sir that's a nasty cough"..............
To which I replied "a lot of men in the graveyard would like to have it"
To which I replied "a lot of men in the graveyard would like to have it"
When the last trumpet sounds, pipe smokers from the grave can testify....
1 Corinthians 15:51-57 New International Version (NIV)
Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
Started on cigarettes at 14, smoked them until I was 35. MD told me to quit or die, so I quit. Born with mild asthma. Cig smoke very unhealthy, but nicotine actually good for asthma, so I went to pipes. I have smoked a variety of pipes and pipe tobaccos since then and am now 73. According to the VA I am in excellent health, still smoking my pipes. Had to cut back a little when I worked in an office, but picked back up when I went remote about 10 yrs ago. Now retired so I smoke whenever I feel like it. Most of my pipes are Peterson and I am a CPG; still smoke most of the old Dunhill (now Peterson) tobaccos. (P.S. I am NOT a medical doctor, my degree is in tech.)
43 here, smoked those nasty cigarettes (and hashish) from the age of 18 to 34, quit cold turkey (best decision ever), took a hiatus from smoking till age 40, where I've discovered the art of pipe smoking (second best decision ever). just wanted to share my smoking story. so... my lifespan as a pipe smoker is 3 years so far :D
Even if every member here posted his information, in standard form, and someone compiled it properly, it's still anecdotal and too small a sample size. So many variables, age, length of time smoking, number of bowls— plus diet, exercise, alcohol consumption, and more make it almost impossible to draw meaningful conclusions.
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