Does anyone have any ACTUAL FACTS about cigar smoking and the health risks?

Question

I've read all the comments on yahoo answers regarding cigar smoking, cancer and other health risks. To be totally honest though, none of the comments are really informative. Most people have absolutely no idea what they are talking about and are just rattling off useless sentences like "cigars will give cancer, don't smoke" .....

I'm looking for actual data or links to various study's that have been done. I'm much more inclined to believe that smoking a cigar every day would lead to far greater health risks than smoking one a week.

So, does anyone actually have any FACTS (not what you've heard, or THINK you know) on the correlation between the # or frequency of cigars smoked, and how that POTENTIALLY relates to various health problems?

Thanks for any credible information.

Let me just add a scenario. I'm talking about assigned risk here; and what that risk is for frequent or infrequent cigar smoking. ...If someone told me your risk for getting cancer by smoking 1 cigar a week is similar to the risk you face of getting struck by lightning then I would make a decision to continue my cigar smoking. If someone told me that your weekly cigar is on par with the risk of flipping a coin and 4 times and having heads come twice, I would stop. I would also like to know what happens to those odds if I smoked a cigar every day, (which I don't)

Point being, I'm trying to establish some basline other than, "smoking will kill you"!

Ms. X, thank you for that, it's nice to be able to read statistics as apposed to emotional based arguments, However, the data you provided doesn't make mention to what the baseline of these smokers was, which is my biggest question. Were they smoking 5 cigars a day, 1 cigar a day, 1 cigar a week, or 1 cigar a month, ect.

Answer 1

The phenoma of cigars causing cancer and other health risks is well-studied and well-known. If you do a Medline Search, you'll find plenty of articles on this. Here's the abstract from one of them:

Pipe and cigar smoking and major cardiovascular events, cancer incidence and all-cause mortality in middle-aged British men.Shaper AG, Wannamethee SG, Walker M.
Department of Primary Care and Population Sciences, Royal Free and University College Medical School, 8 Wentworth Hall, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1RJ, UK. [e-mail]

BACKGROUND: Pipe and cigar smoking are still regarded by many as less hazardous to health than cigarette smoking. METHODS: Prospective study of 7735 men aged 40-59 years drawn from general practices in 24 British towns with mean follow-up of 21.8 years. The outcome measures include major coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke events, cancer incidence, and deaths from all causes. RESULTS: There were 1133 major CHD events and 440 stroke events, 919 new cancers and 1994 deaths from all causes in the 7121 men with no diagnosed CHD, stroke, diabetes, or cancer at screening. Compared with never smokers, pipe/cigar smokers (primary and secondary combined) showed significantly higher risk of major CHD events (relative risk [RR] = 1.69, 95% CI: 1.32, 2.14) and stroke events (RR = 1.62, 95% CI: 1.08, 2.41) and of cardiovascular, non-cardiovascular, and total mortality (RR = 1.49, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.96, RR = 1.40, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.83 and RR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.19, 1.74, respectively), after adjustment for lifestyle and biological characteristics. They also showed a significantly higher incidence of smoking-related cancers (RR = 2.67, 95% CI: 1.70, 4.26), largely due to lung cancer (RR = 4.35, 95% CI: 2.05, 8.94). Overall, the effects in pipe/cigar smokers were intermediate between never-smokers and light cigarette smokers, although risks for lung cancer were similar to light cigarette smokers. CONCLUSION: Pipe and cigar smoking, whether primary or secondary, carries significant risk of smoking-related ill health.

Answer 2

I apologize in advance if you don't like my answer, I am not an expert nor I have reviewed literature, the only ACTUAL FACT I can tell you is that I WISH I HAVE NEVER STARTED SMOKING, not a single one, not even one a week. I swear to God I wish that.

Answer 3

go to the website for the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, you can find the addy on google, you will find your credible sources and information there.

Answer 4

try to google that subject. it should send you to some great links. Also Phillip Morris, the producer of ciggs also has information like that on their web site that may help.

Answer 5

I have no data other than my grandfather's death from smoking cigars.....why take the chance?

Answer 6

here's a good idea go to yahoo or google search and search for cigarette smoking

Answer 7

PhillipMorris website has great information too