Cigars and pipes are riskier than first believed
Kevin Scrivner likes to relax at the end of the day on his front porch, smoking a cigar or a pipe full of tobacco.
The 38-year-old Ada man says he doesn’t smoke cigarettes and avoids caffeine and alcohol.
He’s even a marathon runner, despite having asthma and high blood pressure. But he knows his nightly habit could lead to lung disease or cancer.
“I’m kind of stubborn,” Scrivner said.
“I’m one of those people who thinks that won’t happen to me.”
A new study finds that pipe and cigar smoke may be more harmful than once thought.
While less harmful than cigarettes, researchers found pipe and cigar smoke decreases lung function and doubles the risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Also called COPD, the lung disease is a leading cause of death in Oklahoma.
Cigar smoking also increases risk for heart disease and cancers of the lung, mouth, voice box and esophagus.
The study looked at 3,528 people who smoked pipes and cigars but not cigarettes.
Results are published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
The researchers said that cigarettes are a well-documented cause of COPD, but less was known about the impact on lung function from pipe and cigar smoking. They say pipe and cigar smoking has increased in the United States in recent years because some view these behaviors as healthier than smoking.
Craig Smith, 32, of Ardmore, said he smokes one or two cigars a week, and has consulted his doctor about it.
“Cigar smoke is extremely hard to inhale, especially for someone who doesn’t smoke cigarettes,” Smith said. “Although he wouldn’t suggest smoking of any sort, one or two cigars a week were not nearly as harmful as a pack a day.”
Nearly 6 percent of Oklahomans smoke cigars and a little more than 1 percent smoke pipes.
Micah Frazier, 21, of Broken Bow, said he smoked cigarettes for three years before switching to cigars.
He thinks they are less addictive and he smokes less frequently now.
“I am smoking less and less each week, and quitting for good is in the near future,” he said.
Dr. Robert McCaffree, director of the Oklahoma Tobacco Research Center, said smoking any tobacco, even if you don’t inhale, is harmful.
“As a physician, I think they are all dangerous,” McCaffree said.
BY SUSAN SIMPSON, The Oklahoman
February 23, 2010
