Pipe smokers live longer?

[jazzlover]

I've come across a meme on the internet many times asserting that pipe smokers live longer. Are there any scientific studies proving this?

 

[brdavidson]

I believe the landmark 1964 surgeon general report actually noted that moderate pipe smokers (1-3 bowls per day) live an average of 2 yrs longer than non smokers. I'm sure someone here can provide the report, there was a thread not long ago so celebrating its 50th anniversary.

 

[ravkesef]

That's correct, and there are a few reasons why that's so, chief among them being that we don't inhale. Add to that the fact that pipe smoking is a relaxed, relaxing contemplative sort of activity, and you begin to get the idea.

 

[bryanf]

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!

 

[ravkesef]

bryanf wrote: [/quote]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.

 

[taerin]

Everyone knows pipe-smoking causes cancer and death at an early age, get it right...
Actually the surgeon general said we die (if we don't inhale) like a couple years after non-smokers do because of the relaxation that comes with pipe-smoking. It's apparently good for the soul, and our health.

 

[tuold]

The Seattle Pipe Club Web Site has this:
Reducing Risks
It quotes what some of the posters here have said.

 

[mso489]

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. We just contray, as another member has pointed out.

 

[woodsroad]

What is crazily suspicious to me is that since that report, 50 years ago, there hasn't been a single real study that focuses just on pipe smokers. Not pipe smokers who once smoked cigarettes, not pipe smokers who still smoke cigarettes, JUST pipe smokers. I suspect that the results would go against the State-sponsored party line, dooming the tenure track and future grant potential of the researchers.

 

[rangerearthpig]

So, I can juggle knives, ride my Harley standing up with no helmet, skydive, and play with explosives....and as long as I keep smoking a pipe, I'm good for another 40 years. Right? :lol: Cool!

 

[rangerearthpig]

In all seriousness, there are some pretty graphic photos on the internet of what lip, tongue, mouth, and throat cancer look like. They are disgusting enough to remind me that this is a hobby to do in moderation (at least IMO).

 

[phred]

I suspect that the results would go against the State-sponsored party line, dooming the tenure track and future grant potential of the researchers.

Given the amount of research sponsored by Big Tobacco arguing that the risks of cigarette smoking were overblown, I'd guess it has less to do with party lines and conspiracies than it does with the relative size of the population being studied. Back in the 1960's, pipe smoking was much more widespread and pipe smokers were easier to find and study. Now, we're a small part of the smoking population (much less the general population), and longitudinal studies take a while to complete...

 

[ravkesef]

I believe that rangerearthpig is right in both his posts. The government doesn't seem to be particularly concerned about many of the dangerous things we do in our lives – just about smoking. And secondly, that smoking can potentially be dangerous, for a very small segment of the population who violate some commonsense rules, chief among these being moderation. Now that we have that behind us, I have to say that I'm going to be 72 in April, have been smoking a pipe for 54 years, and my dentist tells me that he can see no evidence in my mouth that I have ever smoked, or that I am currently a smoker. Personal hygiene does help somewhat. SWMBO tells me that she notices how much enjoyment I get from my pipes, and how relaxed I am when I am smoking them. That has got to be worth something. Now there seems to be a statistical correlation between pipe smokers and bladder cancer. But there is also a statistical correlation between being male or Caucasian and having bladder cancer. So in the event I should develop bladder cancer, wouldn't that be because I was a pipe smoker, mail, or Caucasian? And who would give a definitive response? One thing I have noticed: the mortality rate is 100%. I'm going to die of something, and given my age, and the fact that I have survived combat, despite having been wounded, the fact that I have a healthy heart, the odds are Alzheimer's (shudder) and cancer. At present there is no sign of any diminution of mental faculty, so we can rule out Alzheimer's, and we are left with cancer as the best probability, or the possibility of a sudden heart attack. Which one? Who knows? In the meantime I have gotten 54 years of unalloyed pleasure from smoking my pipes, and I look forward to another 54.

Besides, as I have stated once before on this forum, I want to die as my grandfather did, peacefully in his sleep, not like the passengers in his car, screaming.

 

[cortezattic]

REPORT OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO THE SURGEON GENERAL OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE
pg. 30

The death rates for pipe smokers are little if at all higher

than for non-smokers, even for men who smoke 10 or more pipefuls a day

and for men who have smoked pipes more than 30 years.

pg. 32

Nicotine is rapidly changed in the body to relatively inactive substances

with low toxicity. The chronic toxicity of small doses of nicotine is low

in experimental animals. These two facts, when taken in conjunction with

the low mortality ratios of pipe and cigar smokers, indicate that the chronic

toxicity of nicotine in quantities absorbed from smoking and other methods

of tobacco use is very low and probably does not represent an important

health hazard.
The significant beneficial effects of smoking occur primarily in the area

of mental health, and the habit originates in a search for contentment. Since

no means of measuring the quantity of these benefits is apparent, the Com-

mittee finds no basis for a judgment which would weigh benefits against

hazards of smoking as it may apply to the general population.

pg. 36

Death rates for current pipe smokers were little if at

all higher than for non-smokers, even with men smoking 10 or more pipefuls

per day and with men who had smoked pipes for more than 30 years. Ex-

cigar and ex-pipe smokers, on the other hand, showed higher death rates than

both non-smokers and current pipe or cigar smokers in four out of five

studies (Chapter 8, p. 94). The explanation is not clear but may be that

a substantial number of such smokers stopped because of illness.

 

[crazypipe]

Master your truth is a light to my pipe.
mso489
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Joined: Feb 2013

Posts: 3,470
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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. We just contray, as another member has pointed out. :rofl: ::

 

[swampmouth]

My purpose in life has been fulfilled. I have nothing to live for. I think I'll quit smoking and die.NOT

 

[woodsroad]

Cortez, which SG report are you citing? There have been a multitude reports on tobacco post 1964.
http://www.cdc.gov/TOBACCO/data_statistics/sgr/index.htm
The 1982 report concludes that "Individuals who smoke pipes or cigars experience a risk for oral cancer similar to that of the cigarette smoker"
DHHS reports in 1982 and 1989 reached the same conclusion.
I can not comment on the validity of the science or statistical analysis used to reach this conclusion. As some point, I need to read these reports in-depth, but it is clear that it is insufficient just cite the 1964 Surgeon General's report.
Phred Said:

I'd guess it has less to do with party lines and conspiracies

Re-read what I wrote. I am not claiming a conspiracy. I am citing a well known fact that research follows the money. While there is certainly political meddling in anything that the government touches, my primary issue here is that there has not been, to my knowledge, a study that looks at pipe smokers. Yes, the population of pipe smokers is small, and by that standard may not warrant spending money on a study, but what if pipe smokers were used as a kind of control group? Non-cigarette tobacco smokers. It would help in identifying cigarette-specific compounds that are carcinogenic.
Now, here is where reading between the lines peaks my interest. Besides cigarettes, The SG and DHHS reports also call out smokeless tobacco. My guess is that statistical evidence indicated the possibility of a cancer spike there, so they studied it further. But not pipe smoking?

 

[anglesey]

I dont like these studies. Sure some people may or may not live longer as a result of ingesting one or another substances, but that doesnt mean I will. Not that I believe i'm superhuman or anything, I just mean that they don't change anything. I'm probably not going to quit smoking as a result of reading this, nor will you, so it doesn't make any difference.

 

[woodsroad]

I'm probably not going to quit smoking as a result of reading this, nor will you, so it doesn't make any difference.

Au contraire, mon ami.
Millions of people have quit smoking as a result of these reports. My concern is not whether or not you smoke, that's up to you. My concern is whether or not, for pipe smokers, the study's conclusions are complete and valid.

 

[metalheadycigarguy]

Other studies show that drinking alcohol while smoking (pipes, cigars, cigarettes) will increase the risk of oral cancer; while other studies show that drinking coffee can help reduce the risk of oral cancer. Therefore when I smoke my pipes I usually drink coffee. ::