Benefit, from smoking!

**jasmine** · 03-12-2010, 07:37 AM

http://www.aolnews.com/health/articl...ons%2F19395098

Long-Term Smokers Have Reduced Risk of Parkinson's
Katie Drummond
Contributor

AOL News (March 11) --

In the heyday of cigarette smoking, a pack a day was "just what the doctor ordered." Of course, the purported health benefits of smoking have been largely debunked, and cigarettes today are associated with serious health hazards.

But smoking may still have at least one advantage: protection against the development of Parkinson's disease. A large-scale study published in Wednesday's online edition of the journal Neurology further bolsters the connection and concludes that the longer you smoke, the less likely you are to develop the illness.

People who have smoked for years have a lower risk for Parkinson's disease, according to a new study at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences.
In 2007, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed 11 separate studies and concluded that cigarette smoking protected against Parkinson's but that benefits waned once a smoker quit. But the effect was a strong one: Smokers were 73 percent less likely to suffer from Parkinson's than those who'd never lit up.

The latest study, while showing less dramatic results, offers a larger sample of subjects and could yield new clues about the mechanism by which cigarettes improve the brain's resiliency to Parkinson's.

A team at the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences examined 305,000 men and women over age 50. At a 10-year follow-up, half of 1 percent of the study's participants had developed Parkinson's.

More years of smoking were associated with less risk. Those who smoked for less than a decade had a 4 percent lower risk than nonsmokers, compared with a 41 percent reduced risk among participants who'd been lighting up daily for more than 30 years.

The number of cigarettes smoked didn't appear to have any effect.

The study's lead researcher, Dr. Honglei Chen, said he doesn't foresee tobacco or other cigarette ingredients being considered as potential treatments for Parkinson's. But the information "could guide the development of studies on various tobacco components ... to help understand the relationship between smoking and Parkinson's disease," he told Health Day.

Further research could determine which chemicals are responsible for bolstering the brain against the illness, which targets the central nervous system and causes dozens of symptoms, of which physical tremors are the most obvious.

The cause of Parkinson's still eludes researchers, but some suspect exposure to environmental toxins is to blame. One study of 143,000 adults concluded that those who'd been exposed to heavy doses of pesticides were 70 percent more likely to develop the disease.

The new research is good news for ongoing efforts to better understand Parkinson's disease. But the cons of smoking still outweigh the pros, so the study's authors are advising against lighting up as a preventive measure.

**Advertisement** · 03-12-2010 07:37 AM

**Jolie Rouge** · 03-12-2010, 10:22 AM

less chance of Parkinson's .... more lung cancer ?? Dubious trade off ....

Who pays for these studies ...

**pepperpot** · 03-12-2010, 10:54 AM

I find the OP article very disturbing......

Parkinson Disease Overview
Parkinson disease (PD) is an age-related deterioration of certain nerve systems, which affects your movement, balance, and muscle control.

•Parkinson disease is one of the most common movement disorders, affecting 1% of people older than 60 years. PD is about 1.5 times more common in men than in women, and it becomes more common as you age.

•The average age of onset is about 60 years. Onset before age 40 years is relatively uncommon, but the recent diagnosis of actor Michael J. Fox shows that younger people are also vulnerable.

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/parki...article_em.htm

64 Percent of Smokers Die From Smoking Related Illness

http://hubpages.com/hub/Quit-Smoking...elated-Illness

From the OP

More years of smoking were associated with less risk. Those who smoked for less than a decade had a 4 percent lower risk than nonsmokers, compared with a 41 percent reduced risk among participants who'd been lighting up daily for more than 30 years.

Cigarette smokers have total cancer death rates that are 2 times greater than those for nonsmokers. Heavy smokers (those who smoke more than 1 pack a day) have a 3-4 times greater excess risk of cancer mortality. Lung Cancer and Smoking

Cigarette smoking is the major cause of lung cancer in the United States. Lung cancer alone accounts for fully 25% of all cancer deaths in this country; it is estimated that 85% of lung-cancer cases are due to cigarette smoking. The number of lung-cancer deaths in the United States increased from 18,313 in 1950 to 90,828 in 1977.

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00000206.htm

Ready to die in middle age? Keep smoking, according to researchers in Norway who tracked more than 50,000 people for a quarter century.
"Tobacco shortens the lifespan of smokers by 25 years with about 70% of people who begin smoking from their teens die by age 45", Dr. Akwasi Osei, Chief Psychiatrist at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital said.

Quit smoking and watch the risk of dying in middle age quickly fall. Give yourself the chance to live longer.

•41 percent of men who smoked a pack or more a day died in middle age, compared to 14 percent of those who never smoked.

•26 percent of women who smoked heavily died in middle age, compared to 9 percent of those who never smoked.

•44.5 million Americans, currently smoke or about 21 percent of American adults, according to estimates from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

•168,000 Americans died of cancer due to tobacco use in 2007 (American Cancer Society).

•Kentucky is #1. That is, the state with the highest smoking rate and the most smoking related deaths in the US.

•Smoking-related deaths in NYC fell more than 11 percent from 8,722 to 7,744 during 2002 to 2006 (after the New York City smoking ban).

•Up to 2.5 million people in China will die annually by 2025, if growing tobacco use in China continues at current trends the Beijing Daily Messenger reported, citing World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.

•"One hour with a shisha (hookah) is equivalent to something between 100 and 200 cigarettes," Dr Fatima el-Awa, from the World Health Organization's (WHO) regional office said.

http://www.inforesearchlab.com/smokingdeaths.chtml

If one is a heavy smoker, they are more likely to get cancer and possibly die by age 60, so the article is correct, they won't get parkinson whose onset begins at 60.

:

Now this artcle gives smoker's the crutch and excuse to say they are warding off parkinsons.

: idiots.

**hkh9832** · 03-12-2010, 12:19 PM

I've actually been able to see family members with Parkinson's and others with lung cancer. I'm guessing the people who did this studay have not?!

Really, seeing an aunt die of lung cancer was the scariest thing ever. Towards the end, she looked like she had already died and it was just awful wll the way around.

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