Pipe smokers live longer?

[oldmannk]

Amen

 

[ravkesef]

Jeanne Calment, the oldest documented person, smoke cigarettes until the age of 117. Paul Spaniola smoked his pipe until the age of 100. Yours truly has been smoking his pipe for 54 years, and while I have some health issues, none of them are related to my pipe smoking. Indeed, until my spinal surgeries, I was running 10 miles a day, biking 50 miles at a stretch, and enjoying my pipe immensely. cigarette smoking is inherently dangerous, but no clear evidence based on a rigorously controlled study has shown that to be the case for pipe smoking. A few unfortunate individuals have developed cancers which may be related to their pipe smoking, but also may not. Show me an academically rigorous study which proves conclusively that moderate pipe smoking is injurious to health and I'll put the stuff aside. Maybe. Until then, the smoke curling out of my pipe is far more substantive than all these scare stories.

May I make so bold as to remind our contributors that this is a forum dedicated to the pleasures of pipe smoking, not to the relaying of somewhat dubious medical reportage intended to convince us to cease the practice of our hobby.

 

[lordofthepiperings]

Somebody posted a huge list of noted pipe smokers who lived well into their 80s.
As others have said there is the Surgeon Generals report from I believe '64 that stated non-inhaling pipe smokers on average live two years longer than non-smokers.
Personally, I say you only live once and you should live your life how you want to (within the parameters of your local/federal laws of course) and to the fullest.

 

[jazzlover]

Wow, I had no idea my question would generate so many responses. I really was just trying to nail down where the idea that pipe smokers live longer comes from. Now I know it comes from the 1964 study. However, in addition to that, Tuold provided what looks like very reliable information about the health effects of pipe smoking which, quite frankly, I find much more useful.
Those who want to puff should do so with their eyes completely open about the health risks so I think this conversation is healthy. Once a puffers' eyes are wide open he/she is free to quit or to puff continuously like a smoke stack.

 

[woodsroad]

ravkesef sez

May I make so bold as to remind our contributors that this is a forum dedicated to the pleasures of pipe smoking, not to the relaying of somewhat dubious medical reportage intended to convince us to cease the practice of our hobby.

I really appreciate your comments, and agree wholeheartedly. This thread started with a question and, to my mind proceeded with a bare minimum of obfuscation. In fact, I think that it laid the groundwork for some obvious conclusions:
Th answer to the OP's question is: No.
The answer to all the other questions is either:
1) Yes

A) Maybe

2) Perhaps

III) Almost certainly not

b) No

 

[jazzlover]

Woodsroad: What other questions were there?

 

[aquilas]

If pipe smoking leads to a longer life, I believe it's due to the relaxation factor. The pipe allows us to de-stress and we all know that being stressed fills our bodies with bad and harmful toxins. So relaxing to a nice bowl takes away those toxins and fills us with euphoria which leads to our longer stay on this planet.
Eh, close enough, right?

 

[jazzlover]

Aquilas: I'm having a tough time beleiving that smoking tobacco in a pipe translates into a slightly longer life. However, I'm willing to believe it doesn't shorten a person's life as long as that pipe smoker is careful not to inhale and at the same time takes care of his/her health in all other aspects. The problem here is that a lengthy life is not necessarily a happy one. Heavy pipe smoking can lead to the following TREATABLE conditions: oral cancer, erectile dysfunction and tooth loss. So I'm going to keep my smoking habit light because I don't want to wind up as an old man with half a tongue, a mouth full of dentures and a bottle of Viagra on my night stand.

 

[ravkesef]

Woodsroad, you forgot "all of the above," and "none of the above."
I generally lay my pipe aside when I'm conducting a funeral service for my non-smoking friends, may they rest in peace. Later in the evening I reflect on their lives while blowing puffs of smoke toward the ceiling.

 

[yaddy306]

Heavy pipe smoking can lead to the following TREATABLE conditions: oral cancer, erectile dysfunction and tooth loss.

Jazzlover, since you started this thread by asking for scientific evidence, maybe you could provide the link to the study that says heavy pipe smoking can lead to erectile dysfunction? I hadn't heard this before.
I'd be interested in reading that study.

 

[weezell]

If smoking my pipe is going to kill me, it will have to wait in LINE! Whole bunch of stuff will get me first I'm sure...

 

[jazzlover]

Yaddy: Below is the info you asked for.
http://health.howstuffworks.com/sexual-health/sexual-dysfunction/how-erectile-dysfunction-works2.htm
"Nicotine has both an immediate and a long-term effect on erections. Nicotine directly interferes with the nerve pathways that produce and maintain an erection, and tobacco smoke causes heart disease and circulatory problems that reduce the supply of blood to the penis and destroy the flexibility of tissues."

 

[jazzlover]

Yaddy: Here's another link.
http://www.livestrong.com/article/204832-the-effects-of-nicotine-on-erectile-dysfunction/
"Nicotine is a known vasoconstrictor, which means it causes blood vessels to become narrower and reduce blood flow. This constriction of blood vessels to the penis is part of the reason nicotine reduces sexual arousal in men, Princeton University Health Services explains. Furthermore, the vasoconstriction causes permanent damage to the blood vessels, which might make the problems of erectile dysfunction caused by smoking difficult to treat."

 

[johnnyiii]

bryanf wrote: I believe the report stated up to 10 bowls per day. But the interesting part is that though current pipers had a lower mortality rate than non-smokers, ex pipers had a higher mortality! So don't quit!

That's because the ex pipe smokers were polled after they had died--that's why they were "ex pipe smokers," and so their mortality rate rose alarmingly high. That's what keeps me smoking-- I'm afraid to quit. I saw what happened to those other guys who did.

I believe the science showed conclusively that pipe smokers buy too many pipes,

have to live long enough to break them all in, and once they're broken in, be damned

if they are going to kick off and let someone else get the benefit of all that effort, and

besides, it takes the average pipe smoker about 140 years to get half way down their

list of blends they want to try.

My two favorites :rofl:
If the government was really interested in my health they would make it illegal for my wife to nag me.

 

[woodsroad]

Princeton University Health Services explains

They are health care provider, not a research institution.
And if ED and nicotine were indeed linked, then I've already beaten the odds. Over, and over and over again.

 

[yaddy306]

"Fact Sheets" are not peer-reviewed journal articles, Jazzlover.

I'm digging into your references. So far, the first paper linking ED to "pipe smoking" was 14 non-smoking males given nicotine gum and shown racy movies.
Pretty small sample size, and nothing to do with pipes
I'm not sure that giving a non-smoker a 6mg dose of nicotine gum (4mg is what Nicorette advises should be the dose for someone coming off 20+ cigarettes a day) is very relevant to someone smoking a pipe.

 

[jazzlover]

Yaddy: What you choose to believe or deny is up to you. There's plenty of medical evidence to prove nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. Vasoconstriction leads to erectile dysfunction. Thus, like with all things, the key to enjoying low-risk pipe smoking is moderation.

 

[woodsroad]

Repeated vasoconstriction leads to erectile dysfunction.

Wrong. Very wrong.
Jazzlover, you are leading yourself down a road in the wrong direction. Jumping to conclusions and making inference is not science. I would put the same back to you: You may choose to believe what you wish to, but if what you choose to believe is not backed up by quality research from primary sources, then you are doing yourself a lamentable disservice.
Yaddy pointed out some basic flaws with the arguments that you gave him. You should be thanking him, not berating him.
Perhaps what we need right now is an entertainingly unrelated obfuscation:
Cannabis and tobacco smoke are not equally carcinogenic

 

[jazzlover]

I wasn't trying to berate Yaddy. I just pointed out that he's free to believe whatever he likes based on the scientific information that exists on nicotine. My conclusion is that it causes erectile dysfunction. Yaddy's conclusion is that it doesn't.

 

[woodsroad]

Your conclusion has no basis.