Pirengle's Smoking Thread

[kandrathe]

My issues with smoking are partly my tendancy towards disgust at anyone who does something inherently stupid, and partly a personal health issue.  I have asthma in my family, and I'm starting to develop a few symptoms of such myself.  Some people have trouble dealing with the noxious byproducts of a burning cigarette just on the basis of the smell, or some discomfort.  I can't breathe around the stuff at all.  If someone lights up near me, I choke.  Even being around someone who's been smoking makes it hard to breathe.

So for the sake of people like me, butt out.  Please.  Smoking is like waving a loaded gun around; sooner or later, somebody's going to pay for it.
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My belief is that we are killing ourselves with toxins and that while that is an individual right, we should also have the right to live in a pollution free environment if we want. I have a close friend that was diagnosed with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, which is an autoimmune disease where the immune system destroys the platlets in her blood. I really think this was brought about by the levels of pollutants in her environment. Women seem to be more susceptible to environmental pollutants, and many idiopathic autoimmune disorders are also weighted 3:1 towards women.

One consideration is the continued exposure to heavy metals and environmental pollution that overload the immune system. On a daily basis, we battle with pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, industrial wastes, cigarette smoke, and automobile exhaust. Our air, water, and food in particular are full of toxic substances. There is no doubt that these toxins play a role in immune dysfunction. Even substances considered by most people as safe actually impair immune function. Sugar consumption in all forms (glucose, fructose, and sucrose) will impair the ability of white cells to destroy biological agents. This effect begins within a half hour and lasts for 5 hours. After 2 hours, immune function is reduced by 50% (Sanchez et al. 1973; Bernstein et al. 1977).

Oxidative stress plays a role in autoimmune diseases. It can be compared to a piece of metal rusting and results from the action of damaging molecules known as free radicals that are a natural byproduct of the body's metabolism. The electrically charged free radicals attack healthy cells, causing them to lose their structure and function and eventually destroying them. Free radicals are not only produced by our bodies, but they are also ingested from toxins and pollution in the air we breathe.

Chronic systemic inflammation is related to several autoimmune disorders, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, and fibromyalgia (see separate protocols on these topics). Inflammation can be traced to destructive cell-signaling chemicals known as cytokines that contribute to many degenerative diseases (Brod 2000). In rheumatoid arthritis, excess levels of proinflammatory cytokines, such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin 1(B) (IL-1b), and/or leukotriene B4 (LTB4), are known to cause or contribute to the inflammatory syndrome that ultimately destroys joint cartilage and synovial fluid. Certain nutritional supplements and low-cost prescription medications will often lower cytokine levels and control the inflammatory state.

We battle any number of stressors on a daily basis, and some that we have no idea about. Recent studies I've read in "Science" suggest that life span can be directly linked to the amount and duration of inflammation an organism experiences.