COPD Risk Is Enhanced By Smoking
Posted by Admin | Posted in COPD, Health News | Posted on 18-12-2009
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Smoking is injurious to health. We have seen many advertisements and read several times about the disadvantages of smoking. But smoking is a growing fad among people and youngsters love to show their freedom and rebellion by smoking cigarettes or pots.
There are many people that smoke both cigarettes and marijuana and they develop greater chances of the deadly and painful lung ailment COPD as compared to people who just smoke cigarettes and avoid
Conclusion of the study
The study clearly portrays that smokers engaging in smoking cigarettes and marijuana are at a higher risk- at least three times higher than non smokers to have developed COPD disorder that affects and damages the lungs. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease – COPD chances are lower in people that just smoke cigarette.
This is one of the first studies that clearly depicts a relation between marijuana and tobacco as older people are at maximum risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease- COPD. It can be concluded that smoking pot may act as a catalyst that may enhance the chances of developing COPD. It also acts a deterrent that initiates unpleasant effects on the respiratory system in the human body as well according to study researcher Wan C. Tan, MD, of the University of British Columbia and St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, Canada.
Risks
As of today around 12 million people in USA are diagnosed with COPD and the same number are unaware about the occurrence of the disease in their body as per the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. In USA COPD is referred as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. This dangerous disease causes a lot of problems in breathing.
This disease occurs because of smoking cigarette and you will be shocked to learn that it ranks as the fourth reason for deaths in USA. The connection between the lungs and tobacco is widely known very little known is about the repercussions of marijuana on the lungs. Even casual smoking of marijuana has adverse affects on the lungs.
Tan’s Study
Tan had conducted a study on the amalgamated effects of smoking cigarette and pot together. It involved 878 citizens of Vancouver. The subjects were considered tobacco smokers if they had imbibed more than 365 cigarettes in their life. If any of the subjects had ever smoked pot then they were recognized as pot smokers. The researchers had clearly laid out the definition for substantial marijuana smokers if the subjects had consumed at least fifty marijuana cigarettes.
The subjects in this study should have at least smoked for an average of 16 years and 84 marijuana cigarettes should have been consumed by the subjects so that clear conclusions can be arrived at.
COPD was medically affirmed by an indicative method known as spirometric testing. The frequency of of COPD in subjects that just smoked cigarettes was 2.7 times more as compared to non smokers. The degree of COPD was 2.9 times more that smoked both pots and cigarettes. The hazard of COPD is greater in people that smoke pot and not tobacco.