Would you have started smoking if you knew this?

[krobertson12]

If you knew that smoking increased you chances of getting peripheral vascular disease (PVD) 15 fold, and 50% of PVD sufferers suffered from a variety of symptoms as they age, which include mild pain when walking, severe pain on walking short distances, large unhealing painful ulcers on the legs and possibly amputation of your leg due to dead (gangrenous) tissue, all because smoking helps to clog up the arteries... Would you smoke?

I dont mean to have a go at smokers themselves, as i understand that smoking is addictive and can be hard to give up. But if you knew this when you started, would you have started?

And how many people actually knew of these risks before I stated them just now?

[MSK]

If you knew that smoking increased you chances of getting peripheral vascular disease (PVD) 15 fold, and 50% of PVD sufferers suffered from a variety of symptoms as they age, which include mild pain when walking, severe pain on walking short distances, large unhealing painful ulcers on the legs and possibly amputation of your leg due to dead (gangrenous) tissue, all because smoking helps to clog up the arteries... Would you smoke?

I dont mean to have a go at smokers themselves, as i understand that smoking is addictive and can be hard to give up. But if you knew this when you started, would you have started?

And how many people actually knew of these risks before I stated them just now?I did ..i wasnt aware of the percentages though ...:smokin

I really have to stop though ...:agree:

[Betty Boop]

If you knew that smoking increased you chances of getting peripheral vascular disease (PVD) 15 fold, and 50% of PVD sufferers suffered from a variety of symptoms as they age, which include mild pain when walking, severe pain on walking short distances, large unhealing painful ulcers on the legs and possibly amputation of your leg due to dead (gangrenous) tissue, all because smoking helps to clog up the arteries... Would you smoke?

I dont mean to have a go at smokers themselves, as i understand that smoking is addictive and can be hard to give up. But if you knew this when you started, would you have started?

And how many people actually knew of these risks before I stated them just now?
Instant gratification, life is miserable enough! :greengrin

[MyJo]

The thing is that most people who smoke start to do so when they are relatively young........round the back of the pe block at 15 etc......and at that age no amount of preaching or warnings will deter them.

By the time they are old enough to realise how bad smoking is for thier bodies they are hooked and find it extremely difficult to quit even if they want to.

[steakbake]

The thing is that most people who smoke start to do so when they are relatively young........round the back of the pe block at 15 etc......and at that age no amount of preaching or warnings will deter them.

By the time they are old enough to realise how bad smoking is for thier bodies they are hooked and find it extremely difficult to quit even if they want to.

:agree::agree:

i completely agree with that. by the time you actually stop to think about it, its a lot harder to give up.

my first tab was at 14 and i gave up relatively recently. still enjoy the occasional one or two when on holiday etc but can't actually remember the last time i did.

my thought on it is if it aint the fags/drink/drugs/food/fast-cars/women it will be something else which does for you.

a lot of things are fatal. having a smoking habit is one of them but the natural conclusion of being born is that you will die. it's just a question of timing.

[NYHibby]

I've never smoked so maybe I'm missing something, but how can anyone in this day and age not realized the harms of smoking before they start? I mean if you started smoking like 30 years ago, thats one thing, but they drill it into young kids so much these days that I find it hard to believe that people start and are completely ignorant of what they're doing.

[Greentinted]

:agree::agree:

i completely agree with that. by the time you actually stop to think about it, its a lot harder to give up.

my first tab was at 14 and i gave up relatively recently. still enjoy the occasional one or two when on holiday etc but can't actually remember the last time i did.

my thought on it is if it aint the fags/drink/drugs/food/fast-cars/women it will be something else which does for you.

a lot of things are fatal. having a smoking habit is one of them but the natural conclusion of being born is that you will die. it's just a question of timing.

Good Post, one of the best things I have read re the smoking debate. It is very easy to judge but everyone, outwith those who live a monastic life, have something which floats their boat - which will be to there detriment in some way. How dull would life be otherwise?

[Jay]

I agree that the problem isn't in the education of youngsters as I am pretty sure most of them know the risks but when the majority of people start smoking its at the stage of their life when they think they are invincible and it would never happen to them, by the time they are in their mid 20's and realise thats not how it is they have been smoking for up to 10 years and its a huge battle to stop.

personally I have threatened my kids with instant death (before the cigs get them) if I find them smoking :greengrin They are more likely to think thats a possibility :thumbsup:

[julz]

I agree that the problem isn't in the education of youngsters as I am pretty sure most of them know the risks but when the majority of people start smoking its at the stage of their life when they think they are invincible and it would never happen to them, by the time they are in their mid 20's and realise thats not how it is they have been smoking for up to 10 years and its a huge battle to stop.

personally I have threatened my kids with instant death (before the cigs get them) if I find them smoking :greengrin They are more likely to think thats a possibility :thumbsup:

A history teacher in high school told me that her dad caught her smoking at 15 and he made her sit and smoke the rest of the pack, about 8 cigs one after the other :faint:

She never touched one again.

Thats the one I'm gonna use on my future little uns!! :greengrin

[GC]

If you knew that smoking increased you chances of getting peripheral vascular disease (PVD) 15 fold, and 50% of PVD sufferers suffered from a variety of symptoms as they age, which include mild pain when walking, severe pain on walking short distances, large unhealing painful ulcers on the legs and possibly amputation of your leg due to dead (gangrenous) tissue, all because smoking helps to clog up the arteries... Would you smoke?

I dont mean to have a go at smokers themselves, as i understand that smoking is addictive and can be hard to give up. But if you knew this when you started, would you have started?

And how many people actually knew of these risks before I stated them just now?

You have just added to my desire to keep up with what i'm going through just now. ie: quitting smoking.

4 days and counting

[NAE NOOKIE]

Smoking is bad for you.

I smoke and have found it ( so far ) impossible to give up. If eventually the bad things on the packets do happen to me I will think its a bitch and probably feel extremely sorry for myself, but I wont go around blaming everybody else for it because that would make me a hypocrite.

How is it then that governments go on and on and on about smokers and fat people etc etc and go on and on and on about keeping healthy but then cant see the paradox of constantly moaning about what a burden on the state the amount of pensioners we have is becoming.

Talk about wanting your cake and eating it.

And as for smokers being a drain on the NHS I will lay a pound to a penny that the amount of money smokers pay in tax each year would fund the NHS 2 TIMES OVER.

:brickwall

[HarveyDent]

Smoking is bad for you.

I smoke and have found it ( so far ) impossible to give up. If eventually the bad things on the packets do happen to me I will think its a bitch and probably feel extremely sorry for myself, but I wont go around blaming everybody else for it because that would make me a hypocrite.

How is it then that governments go on and on and on about smokers and fat people etc etc and go on and on and on about keeping healthy but then cant see the paradox of constantly moaning about what a burden on the state the amount of pensioners we have is becoming.

Talk about wanting your cake and eating it.

And as for smokers being a drain on the NHS I will lay a pound to a penny that the amount of money smokers pay in tax each year would fund the NHS 2 TIMES OVER.

:brickwall
Good post. I have tried to quit but not managed it (yet) :wink:

If I were to introduce a new drug which would kill tens of thousands a year, it would be outlawed and categorised as Class A.

The govt are hypocrites, if they really wanted us to stop smoking they would ban it, after all its a KILLER drug! But they know they would lose billions a year in tax, so they dont give a monkeys really.

[jakki]

I have been smoking since I was 20 and I regret it every day.

Every time I try to stop, I actually start to smoke more daily.

I have lost all feeling in my left hand and put it done to narrowing of the arteries due to smoking, but my doctor puts it down to a trapped nerve in my elbow. (He knows that I'm a smoker) but still I light up the weed..

Hopefully, the hospital can get to the bottom of things and if its the smoking, I can have the courage and perserverence to stop