Does smoking damage the lungs?

[Guest]

I was reading something today that there are some negative side effects to smoking cigarettes. One is, the smoke paralyzes the cilia for 24 hours, after only 1 minute of smoking, so that they cannot get out junk from your lungs.

Secondly, each time you smoke you kill off alveoli, which will never go back.

Are these just lies? Or is this really true? And I'm guessing this would apply to marijuana smoke?

 

[diggle]

The damage from smoking can be undone.....while the cilia are easily paralyzed, they can regrow and begin performing their task of filtration within 24 or hours or so of the last smoke.

I dunno about the alveoli, it may be a more permanent effect there.

 

[KharmaGirl]

Yes, there are many negative effects to smoking. I'm not a doctor and can't explain things very well, but I have heard the same thing about the cilia and the alveoli.

 

[Guest]

are you serious?.. come on man, of course it does. it may be a natural plant, but its not natural to breath smoke as much as we do...
what id like to know is how much it exactly damages the lungs
and how good vaporizing is for the lungs ( i feel its 99% safe but hey, that %1 could be killing you!)

 

[illin]

Look what you clean out of your favorite smoking device. I would bet your lungs catch way more resin than your pipe. Cant be that good for you. I love smokin herb, but I wont deny myself the truth. Im just to stuborn to yield to it.

 

[Guest]

also, as i hit my bubbler... i realize that some may believe that smoking with water filtration helps for health reasons. wrong, it only cools it. just making sure everyone know this. lol. back to the bub.

 

[bounty29]

I guess this is kinda off topic but is the reason ciggarette smokers get lung cancer and marijuana smokers don't because of all the chemicals and additives and shit in ciggaretts? This might be a stupid question, I just smoked a pretty nice bowl so I apologize.

The laboratory results discussed above parallel what is known from studying human tobacco-smoking populations. Thus, there is substantial epidemiological evidence that among tobacco smokers, those who smoke through a water pipe have a much lower incidence of carcinoma than those who smoke cigarettes or smoke a "regular" pipe or cigars.6,7,9,10

In summary, it appears that water filtration can be effective in removing components from marijuana smoke that are known toxicants, while allowing the THC to pass through relatively intact. The effectiveness of toxicant removal is related to the smoke's water contact area. Specially designed water pipes, incorporating particulate filters and gas dispersion frits would likely be most effective in this regard; the gas dispersion frit serves to break up the smoke into very fine bubbles, thereby increasing its water contact area. While individuals vary greatly in their smoking technique, state of health, dosing regimen, and so on, it seems that many patients could benefit from the use of water pipes to deliver THC. This would allow patients to titrate their dose easily while reducing the health hazard associated with smoke.

Well that was educational. I found a nice report on the Effects of Water Filtration on Marijuana Smoke. Somewhat relevent I guess?

 

[Guest]

I found this study interesting:
http://cancer.about.com/od/smokingandcancer/f/marijuana.htm

Q:
I heard that smoking marijuana will not cause lung cancer. Is this true? Does smoking marijuana increase my risk for lung cancer?

A. According to a recent study by the University of California Los Angeles, there is no increased lung cancer risk in smoking marijuana.

The study presented at the annual American Thoracic Society meeting this week in San Diego, studied the lives of those under 60, since that age group is most to have been exposed to the heaviest amounts of marijuana use.

The "baby boomer" group was comprised of 611 lung cancer patients, 601 head and neck cancer patients and 1040 people who did not have cancer. The study found no increased risk of lung and head and neck cancer. However, it did find a significant increased risk factor in those who smoked two or more packs of cigarettes a day.

The study also suggests that marijuana contains more than 50% more of the chemicals related to lung cancer than cigarettes, its a chemical inside marijuana called THC that may prevent cancer from developing.

THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, may have the ability to kill damaged cells before they become cancerous.
Is this a green light to smoke marijuana?

Absolutely not. Marijuana still contains chemicals that are harmful to the health. When marijuana is inhaled, it is usually held in for times longer than cigarette smoke, thus allowing tar and other chemicals to be absorbed into the lungs.

Marijuana users face the same respiratory problems as regular smokers, such as bronchitis, wheezing, and general difficulty in breathing.

Plus, the resecrchers of the study do say that a lung cancer risk associated wsith smoking marijuana may be revealed as the baby boomers age.

Last but not least, remember that marijuana is illegal in the U.S. and in most countries worldwide.

Well...this is about lung cancer. I guess my original question was about alveolil and the cilia. I guess any smoke can't be good... but there are obviously benefits to smoking.

 

[bounty29]

Marijuana users face the same respiratory problems as regular smokers, such as bronchitis, wheezing, and general difficulty in breathing.

None of which will kill you, how amazing is that. That is a HUGE part of this. How powerful would anti-smoking ads be if the worst they could say is "Don't smoke - you could have general difficulty in breathing." I think "Don't smoke - It will kill you." is a much more powerful message, how many more people would smoke if they didn't have that?

 

[Guest]

None of which will kill you, how amazing is that. That is a HUGE part of this. How powerful would anti-smoking ads be if the worst they could say is "Don't smoke - you could have general difficulty in breathing." I think "Don't smoke - It will kill you." is a much more powerful message, how many more people would smoke if they didn't have that?

we also dont have an average of 3 cigarettes an hour like your 2 pack a day person does.

i personally use herb for celebrating special occasions (of course there is lots to celebrate in life!) so the nightly ritual isn't much worse on my health than your average joe that has a glass or 2 of wine a night.

Marijuana users face the same respiratory problems as regular smokers, such as bronchitis, wheezing, and general difficulty in breathing.

so while we do face the same problems were we to ingest the same amount, i dont think anyone here smokes 20-40 joints a day, everyday. we have the potential to do much harm to our body, it's just that we fall short of that usually

 

[Guest]

Yeah...I think moderate smoking is probably okay. Like if I smoke a joint a day, or even a few cigs on top of that. But I think I won't even fuck around with the cigs...cuz I like marijuana more.

Sorry I'm just so obsessed with my health. I've been this way since I was like 5. I remember not eating hamburgers when I was that age because they were unhealthy. I would eat salads...

I guess the good thing about tobacco or weed, is you DON'T have to smoke it. Thats why they make those mouth pouches and with weed... edibles/oils... and VAPORIZERS! So you can enjoy without so much guilt!

It got to me today, because I was trailrunning...and felt my lungs kinda wheezing a bit. I think it MAY have something to do with being in a smoky casino last night. I probably second-hand-smoked 40 cigarettes there... haha.

 

[Allusive]

The truth is, nobody knows for sure the extent to which Cannabis in particular damages your lungs or contributes to lung cancer. There hasn't been enough research involving large populations. Personally, the biggest thing going for it is most people smoke a lot less cannabis compared to a cigarette habit. Thus, you don't see people dying from lunger cancer because they like to toke up here and there.

I wouldn't say Cannabis doesn't cause cancer, and I wouldn't want to say it does. At this point, it could be either one.

 

[mangled]

inhaling any kind of smoke is not good for you

 

[Dr Watt]

 

[Guest]

i used to smokee a pack a day of cigs. after a few years of continuous manaufactured tobacco smoke i started to havee difficulting breathing. I dropped the cigs and kept up the weed 3+ times a day and i gotta say, I have no problems with breathing anymoreee.

 

[Guest]

also, as i hit my bubbler... i realize that some may believe that smoking with water filtration helps for health reasons. wrong, it only cools it. just making sure everyone know this. lol. back to the bub.

May not be saving you for all the ills of toking up but is better than letting the smoke have free course to your lungs.

Get a Vape then most of your worries should be gone

 

[WAMEN]

smoke is bad for you .. carbon monoxide is bad for you.. everything we smoke is bad for us cause it burns..