7 Comments
Feb 15, 2022Liked by William H Bestermann Jr MD

Smoking is a terrible habit. Both my parents smoked for many years. My mom quit cold turkey while pregnant with my youngest brother. My dad would have more than one lit at the same time at work. He finally quit cold turkey as well. But unfortunately for me and my brother we were exposed to it all day and night for most of our lives. We both also have asthma which I blame, second hand smoke from.

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Second hand smoke is a real hazard. Just 30 minutes of exposure impairs arterial dilitation

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Feb 15, 2022Liked by William H Bestermann Jr MD

Thank you again, Bill. Very helpful clarification about smoking issues.

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Thanks for your comment and being there so consistently. Cigarette companies engineered cigarettes to make nicotine more available and that is the addictive component. I am a capitalist but I would call that predatory capitalism, especially since they targeted young people.

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Feb 15, 2022Liked by William H Bestermann Jr MD

It is a horribly difficult habit to break! As someone with 42 years sobriety and only 21 years of not smoking...it was the most challenging change I've made in my life. But everyday I'm so thankful that I did. I always tried to be as supportive and encouraging to my patients who were trying to quit. It is just hard. My line for my patients was, "It isn't a shame to start smoking again, the real shame is to stop trying to quit." Blessings to all who are still fighting this battle with one of the most devastating addictions there is. :(

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Hello again, Theresa and thanks for this most importanti comment. Hopefully, knowing exactly HOW tobacco makes us ill and ultimately kills us may help some overcome the addication. Insight is important to overcoming many challenges. Now we can do more than just say smoking is bad for you or smoking causes cancer. Now we know exactly how smoking causes chronic illness. I am sure some of the other chemicals play a role but just breathing oxidants in smoke is enough to do great damage.

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Thank you for the great information in this article. It is a great article!

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