Health Risks & Benefits of Smoking Cigars
Certainly we’re all conscious of the health dangers related with smoking, but is cigar smoking just as hazardous, or worse, than smoking cigarettes? Well, regular cigar smoking, according to the National Cancer Institute, has been associated with a serious health threat to the the lungs, larynx, oral cavity, and esophagus. Also, according to newer study that has been carried out, cigar smoking may be powerfully associated to the development of pancreatic cancer. Doctors Also caution that people who routinely inhale while savoring a cigar are In addition at greater peril of developing lung disease and heart conditions.
The health threats of cigar smoking appear to increase dramatically in those individuals who smoke regularly and inhale while smoking. Nonsmokers are eight times less likely to develop oral cancer than someone who smokes three to four cigars a day. Unfortunately, we do not yet know the health risks of smoking the occasional cigar but it seems clear however that smoking cigars on a daily basis can pose serious health risks.
Many individuals wonder if cigars are as addictive as cigarettes and why, for instance, so many more people actually become addicted to cigarettes, as opposed to cigars? In fact, any tobacco product can become addictive because of the fact that it contains an addictive substance, nicotine. You only have to witness the effects of smokeless tobacco on individuals to see this. Smokeless tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco are just as addictive as cigarettes, because they contain nicotine as well. The majority of cigar smokers rarely inhale deeply, if at all, causing the nicotine to be superficially inhaled. Nicotine is absorbed much faster in cigarette smokers, however, as most of them do tend to inhale deeply. Even though most cigar smokers inhale the nicotine more superficially, it is still possible to become addicted if the user smokes cigars on a regular basis.
Why don’t cigar smokers smoke less often if nicotine is so addictive? It appears that for several reasons smokers become less addicted to cigars. Since less nicotine is absorbed by the body due to superficial smoke inhalation by cigar smokers, the result is less people becoming addicted, obviously. The other reason is that cigars are still viewed by most as a luxury item, and are not as readily accessible as cigarettes are. However, if frequency of use increases, cigars can become just as addictive as cigarettes, and will actually pose increased health risks to the user in comparison to cigarettes.
